March 9

Today started out with a walk along a magical beach with the sun just coming up over the ocean.  This beach is frequented by White-faced Heron during the changing tide.  It was fun to watch them stir the mud with their foot and eat the resulting breakfast.

White-faced Heron

The morning was then filled with the entrainment of watching locals fish for Piper which they freeze and use for bait to fish for Snapper and King fish.  To catch to fish two fellows use a net and one walks out into the water, makes a big circle and then moves back to shore.  The two work together to gather the net and bring in the Piper.  You will notice the professional help provided by Doug, Cathy and Nola.  These fellows were very friendly and gave us a bag full of fish.  I took them to our apartment, gutted and cleaned them ready for supper.  We fried them in some butter with a splash of local pear cider and they were quite delicious if you could sift out the fine bones.

Setting out the net.

Professional help from the Prairie Folk.

Doug (being Doug) was the first to engage these fellows and start helping.

A bucket of Piper bait.

After gutting the fish we had a great time feeding the remains and some whole Piper to the local gulls.  Black-backed gulls and Red-billed gulls came rushing in within seconds of tossing out the fish.  It was fun to watch them fight over the remains.

Two Black-backed Gulls arguing over who gets the fish.

The fight continues.

In the afternoon we went for a drive and toured some wineries.  We stopped at Martins Bay where Cathy and I camped back in 1974.  Quite a beautiful spot with both pastoral and maritime images.

Martins Bay.

Two Myna birds helping out a cow with an itch!

We then prepared our supper by heating up yesterdays roasted veggies and cooking some grass fed NZ beef.

I was quite excited to talk to Lyonel Grant today who will arrange a tour of the Marae he constructed in Auckland.  This will be our main event tomorrow and then we are back to Warkworth for one more night.