Leaving
Reefton with a totally silent car – WOW! I thought that a car of some years of age
has to have some sound – but ours again was totally silent. No it was really
hard not to go much too fast!
The night I came back very late from the climbing
access river we drove north towards Murchison. To have a point to target, I
fixed some accommodation beforehand in Murchison. And that was a the worst we
had up to now. Kiwi Park. 155,- for some old standard (70es?), motel style
flat. It was not refurbished in 2012 (as they announced), it only might have
seen some new curtains. The best thing was, that it was silent and clean.
Internet was expensive and complicate. The fully equipped kitchen only had two
flames and actually was not a fully equipped kitchen compared to normal
standards. The value for money compared to all other accommodations we had (except
double Hari) was very poor. Never again! Traveler’s advice: avoid Kiwi Park –
if they offer such a quality it can’t be much better elsewhere. We had to stay
there and it was the only place where I had not a good feeling on the end to
pay the bill.
What I
totally had wrong in in my memories: Murchison is much smaller compared to
Reefton and much less hospital to the Tourist. I would even say: Reefton has at
least a bit of appeal. In Murchison this is much less present. But both
villages offer some good fishing if you hit it right.
Fishing
around Murchison meant two unbelievable disappointing days without fish. First
day fishing the main river south of Murchison some kilometers below a stretch
where I had a double double digit day three years ago with Scott Murray. I
might have seen one fish. On the way out over the paddocks (as usual I asked
for permission before) I ran into a couple driving up the valley. We briefly
chatted about fishing access. I relocated to a medium stream not far away,
found a way to enter the semi gorge and had massive problems with the spotting:
overcast as the whole day, gorge type river section, dark river bottom and
slightly brownish water. I saw fish but all pretty much too late. And I did not
want to blind-fish. I fished a much longer stretch than planed and had to walk
back a boring road. Arriving back at the accommodation I was surprised to see
the couple I talked to on the first river to be our very neighbors: a friendly
couple from Australia.
On that day
Ines went with Tobias for the better option: going for a walk and to the small
village and meeting one of the two persons she knew in Murchison in the Café. Leya,
the wife of Scotty.
The second
day we went all three to the river fished the day before but some kilometers
upstream as the day before. Pretty much exactly the section of the above mentioned
red letter day three years ago. For 2 kilometers I did not see a single fish in
the relatively low river. Not before the more stable sections and pools of the
river fish showed. But none did like my offering. Or rather I did not set the
hook in time with the odd fish that took my nymph. Most of the time I was
fishing nymph on sight, so no indicator at all, only judging from the fish
behavior or the mouth flashing, all combined with limited visibility due to
semi overcast sky and limited dark bank foliage as a background. Compared to
that the striking with dry fly is easy. Ines followed patiently with Tobias.
It
was a hard test for me to finally spot some fish but unable to catch them. At
least we were out in a nice landscape. I quit and we went back rather early to knock
on the door of Scotty and Leya to say hello. And to pet the lovely
mouse-feasting cat Jasmine. We had a quick beer together, exchanged some news,
had some fish talk with their South African clients and headed off to our funny
flat. This time Murchison did not provide any luck. It was so depressing, that
I did not even take pictures of anything else besides some cows chewing grass.
After three nights in Murchison we went again east towards the West Coast and
further towards Karamea. Where we made arrangements well ahead of time for a
nice accommodation for Ines and Tobias and some fish-fun for Florian (4F!)...
Lessons
learned: NZ is not always happy fishing.
(In case you wondered about the pictures: all are related to the week in Reefton)
- Check out the new pages "Clips" with footage/videos and "How to" in case you plan a trip to NZ
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