This blog is titled "Take 2" as for some obscure reason it is sitting on my phone in saving mode and refuses to publish or open. And I have been trying for 10 days! Len has looked on the Internet and found that other people are asking the same question as to how to fix it but with no replies.
So I have to try to use my memories! Not hard to think of the main content as Len caught 2 big kahawai on New Year's Day and I won a golf tournament the next day! It's the detail that's more difficult.
New Years Day dawned sunny and warm? we think, and after 3 consecutive days of golf it was definitely time to go fishing again so we drove from the Tinwald Golf course to the coast just south of the Ashburton/Hakatere river mouth. We wound down the gravel road to a large parking area which seemed to be still quite a walk to the river mouth so instead of fishing there Len decided to walk over the stoney embankment and fish in the sea. It was an hour or so before high tide and the water seemed quite deep and calm. I said I would join him after getting the blog up to date.
Within a minute of Len leaving a couple of utes came hurtling downhill around the stoney corner nearly losing control as they did so. Then they tried to get up the deep loose-stoned embankment, particularly difficult for the ute with a pile of wooden pallets on the back, but eventually they managed.
Within 5 minutes Len was back with a big kahawai which he gave me to take care of before heading back 'to catch another'. At that point the young people in the utes were making a good bonfire with the pallets so I was being entertained for the 5 minutes that it took for Len's return with another kahawai. So that was the fishing done for the day! Len soon had it marinating in the brown sugar and salt ready to put in the smoker the next day.
So with half the day still ahead of us we drove onto Hororata golf course at Glentunnel where we had put our names down to play in their Golf Tournament the following day. They were happy for us to stay at the course for a couple of nights. There was one other couple staying there in their horse box but they weren't playing in the tournament. It would have been interesting to see just what set up they had in their horse box!
After dinner we walked around the beautiful course to get a feel for it - we're pleased we did as 3 fairways had hidden clearwater streams. A beautiful setting with the hills and trees and the course was in great condition with fast fairways but challenging greens, especially the practice green which we had great difficulty with. Luckily the greens on the course seemed easier to read.
Len and I played with 2 local ladies in the tournament - another Trish & Pauline who Len, in a very complimentary way, felt could have been a Topp triplet. Anyway I had an excellent game for me, best I have played for ages, getting 40 Stableford points. It would have been 42 but for the penalty I took for playing the wrong ball out of a very watery GUR area. Same make of ball but no T on it! A good lesson for me to always identify it properly.
As we were one of the first groups out on the course we had a long wait for all the other players to come in so there was plenty of time to chat, eat our complimentary hamburgers and drink. I was chuffed to win the ladies division, being second overall, my prize being a big meat pack which I just managed to squeeze into our little freezer. I also won first prize in the raffle, another meat pack, which I was only too pleased to give to Trish & Pauline!
So all in all, with Len's 2 fish and my golf winnings we had a very successful 2 days with enough meat and fish (with another catch or 3) to last us a couple of months.
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