Back from the Routeburn NZ

Heather
Instead of Mt Sonder, why not make a day walk to Counts Point, more memorable than Mt Sonder. There is a 2km fire trail in off Namatijra Drive, enables you to make it a day trip.
Not as high, but more spectacular views?

Im not sure about the whitebait but Im pretty sure they have a healthy crayfishery there Graham?

It has come back a bit but there are a lot less boats fishing crays there now.

In the 60's there was a fleet of something like 50 boats in Milford Sound and they fished the crays nearly to extinction. Same in the Chathams.

Trouble was a lot of illegal undersize fish were taken and so they didnt get to grow up.
When we had a staff barbie the fishermen would come up with a couple of bags of crays Usually unders.
Then wheh the Chathams got going they all went over there and fished that to death. There are still crays there but they are being fished more sensibly these days than then.
The former deer shooters have turned into deer farmers now but the deer are scarce compared to then.
The helicopters shooters pretty much cleaned them up before they started netting them to start the deer farms.

We had a small herd in a valley near us and we were walking up there on our day off to bag a couple and all of a sudden, woop woop and a chopper shot over, a crackle of rifle shots and we just went home.

Half an hour later the chopper ferried them all out on a sling.

The whitebait used to be caught by the bucket load and get flown out by the Cessna load Then for a number of years they almost dissappeared THey have come back but nowhere as good as they were. Last time I bought them it cost $50 for a pack the size of a LB of butter.

We had the only net in the river and could get a 10 ltr bucket full every tide in the season.

Oh for the good old days of getting up and putting on your driest wet clothes and going to work in an inch an hour rain.
Even had a white Xmas there one year LOL

ha-yeah too true but I think alot of the info in there is quite old.
AFAI recall

commercial shooting of deer stopped during the 70's and the areas were segregated into rec and pro.

Chathams certainly got flogged, but its all alot more efficient nowadays so one boat can do what 3+ of the older ones could do now.

And its quotered, not a free-for-all.

Get hold (if you can) a few episodes of a series called "Million Dollar Catch", its a kiwi copy/p+sstake of the similar sounding one about the southern crayfishermen. Its a great watch and a good laugh as well.

Try looking via TVNZ, you may be able to watch online.

I grew up shooting possums for skins/pocketmoney, pity they arent exctinct there.

I have watched it on 7 mate I think it was up till last week.

Nothing funny about crayfishing in bad weather. I went out once after a night on the turps. Turned out is was the second roughest day of the season.

Spent the trip in the head with my body trying to turn inside out. Never again.

Yes it and us have all changed I went back to Milford in the 80s and 90's and it wasnt the same.

They were still shooting in the 70's when I lived at Wanaka but Tim Wallis had started netting and had a deer farm by the Golf course.

I went to school with one of the better shooters, a Gavin??? Overton

They will never get the last deer nor possum or stoat either.

A pity Possums arent exinct here as well with the damage they do. Was a lot of money in Possum skins once but not any more I dont think.

With hindsight getting wet almost everyday for months hasnt helped my aging joints a lot
Nor has carrying tourists packs down hill for a couple of hours slowly every day done a lot for my knees.

Cheers

"Nothing funny about crayfishing in bad weather. I went out once after a night on the turps. Turned out is was the second roughest day of the season. "

Ive been at sea most of my working life, crayfishing, southern ocean longlining 7 years of winters (no shelter at all) and now O&G cargo etc, so we need to laugh it off onboard!

But the funny bit is when they get on the turps etc. Didnt know it was screened over here though.

sorry everyone about the OT.

?????????????????????????

the guys on Million Dollar Catch I mean.
One episode I saw they rafted up in Perseverance Inlet and got so slaughtered that one skipper could barely see to walk around the deck in the morning.

Sounds normal for MIlford.

One wandered down to the boats out of his skull and disappeared. Everyone thought he had taken a car and gone home to invercargill.

A week later on a very low tide when a launch was reversing out of the dock a very worm eaten body popped up in front of 100 or so traumatised tourists.

He had started walking across the rails of the boats to get to his and slipped and hit his head on the next rail and in he went..