Waipu Cove (day 5)

Despite weather predictions of extreme cold and even snow down to 400m we woke to another almost cloudless Northland day. A lazy morning then a walk on the beach where a group of friends were fishing Maori style (with a little new Sea Horse technology). The traditional style is to use a float with hook attached (Kontiki fishing). The float uses the off-shore wind to drag the line out for hundreds of meters into deeper water. The new motorised version uses a battery operated float to drag the line out into deep water so is less reliant on the whim of the weather. Their first haul was just one small fish, but second haul closer to dusk, produced 5 schapper (and 8 yesterday). The great fishing is largely the result of the marine reserve at Goat Island, a few km south. The skies today were heavy with large cumulus clouds but the threatened (and predicted) rain never happened. High winds in the evening butteted the campervan but it was still warm and cosy inside.