Fiordland Nov 2003 - Story 1
Fiordland – a week on the Cindy Hardy - The Trip South
After some last minute deliberations it was decided that getting to Manapouri in one go on the Sunday was a pretty tall order, so a start time of 12.00 Saturday was set. This almost worked and two cars (John and Angus) set off around 1pm to head south. Although a convoy was suggested Angus immediately lost John. In the end we caught up with John (with Stu, Murray and Bob on board) quite easily as a nice policeman had stopped them just short of Kohatu to talk about the perils of towing trailers a bit fast and how it can be an expensive business!! Angus, with Ross and Alistair on board duly waited ahead and we set off again. It was reassuring to see that the road police were keeping the roads safe by patrolling with regularity during the trip south! Not many were seen on the way home though.
The first night was spent watching the AB’s crush the hapless Springboks and listening to John’s karaoke prowess in Geraldine (which won us all a round of drinks from the bar manager!!) before another long haul to Manapouri where we caught up with the most of rest of the crew, at the pub of course. A grand evening was had by all and Wales managed to give England a nasty scare in the world cup.
The Cindy Hardy
Assembling at Southern Lakes Helicopters we met the remaining 2 people on the trip and flew in to Dusky Sound bright and very early, a wet but never the less spectacular trip which enabled Angus to really perfect his filming technique – move over Peter Jackson! We were deposited with gear at Supper Cove. It was raining, as it would continue to do for much of the week – when it wasn’t hailing. Everything was then transported to the Cindy Hardy by boat except Murray’s clothes bag – which was found back in the truck much, much later. Bunks were duly allocated with Lewey being banned to the wheelhouse for snoring potential. Alistair later joined him after a night in with crewman Garth, who nearly suffocated him with smoke.
First dives were planned at the north side of Long Island and both Stu and Geoff were straight into the crayfish to start the week on the right note. A few good blue cod were caught here just for good measure then after a look at a spectacular waterfall in Acheron Passage a second dive for the day was had at Oke Island in Wet Jacket Arm. Only one cray was caught this time, but a good feed of scallops came aboard from a number of divers so all was well set for the chef – Carl, (the boy from Bluff) to do his wonders. We anchored at the head of Wet Jacket Arm for a well-deserved feed and broke open the wardroom. Apparently we were already more successful than the previous visitors in getting dinner organised – after only one day!
The second day aboard – the fourth of the trip for some of us – dawned overcast with cloud and rain. However the very occasional clearer spell let the clouds disperse a little and gave a hint of the spectacular landscape around. Three dives were planned for the day at Entry Island, the Islands in Acheron Passage and on a sunken reef off Porpoise Point as the skipper Ian Johnson hunted in vain for some better weather conditions. Dolphins were in attendance and John hid from a shark that he claims was somewhat larger than him. Never the less good cray and cod sport provided a delicious dinner with a starter of marinated crayfish (spice vinegar, runny honey and onions). The evening was spent at Cascade Cove where the boat could stock up again on fresh water and that night one of the Southland crew, Lenny, was heard trying to repossess either a flock of sheep or herd of cattle in the forward bunk room.
The morning of the third day dawned with a hint of better weather and the skipper decided to at least chance the conditions in the outer sound. On the way past we paid due homage to the spot where Captain Cook repaired his ship – he seems to have left plaques all over the place.
We then spent an eventful morning hunting for cray pots left by the previous skipper (Ian was temporary relief for the owner, before diving along Anchor Island. The score by now was very much moving in favour of diving as a method of catching crays and the quality of people’s contributions to their bag limit was improving all the time.
One great novelty - and a real boon when carrying a full to overflowing catch bag (Angus was even catching blue cod underwater with his ‘aid’ and shoving them in his bag) – was the method of regaining the ship at the end of the dive. After some careful manoeuvring and lining up by the skipper, Garth swings out a cage on a hydraulic crane and drops it in the water in front of the divers. The divers swim in and are then lifted and deposited on the deck along with their catch: Feast on the pictures – and remember that getting crays and getting back on board may never be quite as easy again.
That evening we progressed back to anchor out of range of the sandflies (nearly but not quite) in Cascade Cove and feasted again on crayfish accompanied this time by lamb. A few Grouper were caught and a seal was seen to be steadily working its way through a school of fish. Beer flowed freely in the wardroom and all was well with the world. Cards were played into the night and the stock of rum on board dwindled steadily.
