FlyFishing New England - Destination: New Zealand (page 1)
Of browns and rainbows, kiwis and rain - By John Katsigianis
How fast the time goes by!
I always had a thing about collecting rocks, a curiosity I apparently passed onto my children who still give me "special" rocks they know I will like. There’s a softball-sized rock on my desk; almost round, gray in color but black when wet and has a cool red stripe spiraling around it from top to bottom. Next to the rock is a photograph of me beaming at my son, Stephen, who is holding a beautiful rainbow trout. These items provoke memories of the nine amazing days we spent on the other side of the globe experiencing New Zealand and its fisheries. We had all the ups and downs typical of any fishing trip; uncooperative weather, frustration, disappointment, new friends, great memories, unbelievable success. I would call it the trip of a lifetime, but such a label would sound as though I will never get back.
Stephen was my fishing partner before he could walk. He was with me when FlyFishing New England magazine was conceived. Now he is in his senior year of high school and planning to go to college. I was worried about losing my fishing partner. I was worried about getting old. How fast the time goes by! How many more times would we be able to just look at each other and say, "let's go!"? So I planned something big.
Don't plan it alone
Planning a trip to New Zealand can be challenging so I decided to consult an expert. The Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing, run by Mike McClelland is the expert. First, Mike told me that some of the best fishing, and totally ignored by Americans, is New Zealand's spring. Though very far south, New Zealand's winters are fairly mild. But in November when the country is moving into spring, the fish are getting active and hungry. When the legendary big trout of New Zealand get hungry, fishing is good.
For us to travel in November, timing was critical as we had to squeeze the trip in between Stephen's football schedule. This was one of the areas in which the knowledge of the folks at Best of New Zealand was key. The International Date Line played havoc with me. Finally, I just advised Mike I could leave New Hampshire on this day and had to be back on this day. Once we had decided on two of the recommended lodges, Best of New Zealand took over and made all the arrangements. It could not have worked any better.
Getting there
The comedian Lewis Black says "if you have an opportunity to go to New Zealand, don’t." He had a problem with the long flight time. My guess is that he did not stay where we stayed nor did he fish. If he had done either, the flight would have been just a mild inconvenience. It was a long flight and our layovers in Las Vegas and Los Angeles made the trip that much longer. But our arrival on a beautiful day in semi-tropical Auckland made travel fatigue disappear.
From Auckland, it was a short flight to Nelson on the South Island where we met our driver and were shuttled to Lake Rotoroa Lodge, about one hour south. It was raining at the airport and our driver mentioned that it had been raining for the better part of a week. Worse yet, he said the front just refused to blow out. This was spring in New Zealand where weather could be unpredictable, but this was a lot of rain.
Lake Rotorua Lodge
I immediately fell in love with Lake Rotoroa Lodge and vowed never to leave. I just needed to send for my wife and children and make myself at home. The lodge was built in the 1920’s on the shore of Lake Rotoroa right where the Gowan River exits the lake (With all the rain, the shoreline was a quite a bit closer than usual). It is a beautiful building with twelve guest rooms upstairs. The dining facilities, small gift shop and lounging rooms are downstairs. Twelve foot ceilings and beautiful antique furnishings complete the perfect setting. Of course, a building is just a building without great people in charge. Brent and Sharleen Hyde manage Lake Rotoroa Lodge with an ease and charm I have never before encountered. Each guest is greeted at the front door with a familiarity which sounded more like a "welcome back" than a first meeting. "Hello John! Hello Stephen!" That kind of greeting makes a guest forget about the long trip.
Guests come to Lake Rotoroa Lodge for its unparalleled service in beautiful surroundings. I attempted to carry my own suitcase which was politely but firmly removed from my grasp. One night after dinner I started to clean up my dinner dishes until an icy stare froze me in my tracks. At Lake Rotoroa Lodge guests are there to be guests. Period. My room at the lodge was located in the front of the building with an spectacular view of the lake. Ten fishing buddies could have stayed comfortably in my room. Each guest room has a private bath with heated floors and towel bars.