Diversity in our inshore seas

I had to hunt for a fish picture in my files the other day, and came up with this set of pics which I just had to share. This first one proves that I can be a hunter gatherer. It's been in this blog before, but I need to remind myself just how good King Fish can be - raw, steaks, casserolles.

And in exactly the same bit of water where King Fish roam - off the Mangawhai Bar - I have sometimes seen whales. Quite close sometimes. This is a Bryde's Whale. Last Christmas I saw a Hump Back. It is spectacular that we can see mammals like this so close to Auckland.

This one is in Hamburg. I went there to observe their fantastic people's waterfront. And took time out to visit an Art Gallery.

And this is a Hapuka, or Deep Sea Bass. That's Sail Rock in the back ground.

You never know what you're going to find. That's the magic of fishing. This Little Nemo was happy to be put back.

And this is my favorite. It's an Orca. I took this photo with a 50mm lense film camera - so that gives you an idea how close it came to my boat. Emily and I had launched at Narrow Neck Devonport, and were heading out to the Noisies (you can see them in the background). We were just crossing the Rakino Channel when Emily said, "I think I see something..." I stopped. It was Boxing Day. There was no-one out but us. And then three Killer Whales surfaced. I think a Bull, Cow and Baby. This is the Bull. I was standing in the boat to take this. The dorsal fin was at least a metre tall. What a sight.

Happy New Year - Sun-baked holiday

Two daughters on the lawn at the bach under the brolly. Grass was like a desert. Will it ever be green again...?

Three daughters in the sand dunes at the beach. Pandering to my desire for a photo for the NZ Herald photo competition. You know: "She wears sea shells on the sea shore...." Did you know: the whelks all twist the same direction. Wonder if it's different in the Northern hemisphere. The things you think about on holiday....

I know, the man's a killer of fish, hunter-gatherer. Fishing was very good this holiday. And so many dolphins about. We even saw Orca come up the estuary and go after sting ray. What a great place.

Rick Stein based casserole recipe for King Fish that is fantastic: Put par-boiled potato slices at bottom of baking dish, and add vegetables like skinned broad beans, sliced pepper, sliced mushroom, sliced zuccini, plus 75 ml olive oil, 200 ml stock, salt and peppper, and bake this lot at 200 for about half an hour. Then press into this base of baking vegetables, a dozen or so 3-4cm long steaks obtained by cutting across your King Fish back-steak fillet. You can use the steaks to impress fresh herbs into the heart of the casserole. Then sprinkle salt and pepper and put back in hot oven, where it will only take between 5 and 10 minutes to cook the fish perfectly. Juices soak into the vegetables. Then serve.