Cows and Whitebait - An East Coast Odyssey

Cow and Cop - Whakatane

To say Whakatane on New Zealand's East Coast is a one-horse town is a gross exaggeration   There is at least one cow as well, albeit a plastic one outside the local vet's practice.

We arrived after a four hour road trip from Auckland.  What a lovely climate the place has and of course the people are  very friendly as you often experience in the rural hinterland.  Locals took the time to tell us where the best places were to go for sightseeing and fish and chips.  The latter being some of the best in New Zealand as there is a fishing industry based in Whakatane and the seafood is literally the catch of the day.

The weather has been typical of late Spring with warmer temperatures but cooler nights. Thankfully there is no rain to spoil the holiday break.

Whitebaiter - Whakatane River

Although it is nearing the end of the whitebait season there are still some keen fishermen lining the banks of the river that reaches it mouth East of the city boundaries.  It seems that the old method of catching the small delicacy remains the same as it was when I was a boy in Waitara.  I used a painted whiteboard weighted down just below the water's surface so that you could see the whitebait as they hugged the banks on their run up river.

This fisherman is using exactly the same method with his scoop net at the ready. He caught less than a quarter of a cupful as we watched, before we moved on.

Lintel Carving on Waka (Canoe) shelter

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