The French Pass and Fish For Tea

It rains all night and when we awake we are very glad that, before we went to bed, we moved the Scubby to higher ground. Certainly, had we remained in our original spot we would have been pushing ourselves out of the mud come sunrise!

By the time we get around to making breakfast the rain has stopped completely and we are able to venture out along the jetty for a glimpse of Elaine Bay as the fog lifts. We chase the fog all the way along though as we venture out to French Pass.





A little story about French Pass: when we were paddling along the Abel Tasman there was one place where, when we looked out across the large expanse of Tasman Bay, we were able to see a gap in the land along the other side. Turns out this gap is quite famous. "It's French Pass" said our guide Kyle. The French explorer, D'Urville, notoriously got quite flummoxed here as he tried to sail through the pass when the tide was in (or out). The small gap (which is very small and incredible that we could somehow line ourselves up all the way across Abel Tasman to look through it to see the Cook Straight on the other side) is a surge of waters rushing in and out and creating all sorts of maelstroms.



The road in is winding and muddy with all the rain and we are not even sure where we are headed towards not being able to see through all the fog. From Elaine Bay it is about 22km. This takes exactly 1 hour to drive. Yes. That windy. That narrow. That muddy. That foggy. On the last curve and approach to the actual town of French Pass, D'Urville island rises from the fog to scare the pants off of us. It is positively ghostly (as are the sheep that walk the road). Once underneath the fog cloud though we are welcomed by the captivating village (can it even be called that?) of French Pass. We immediately understand why the small DOC site (room for 20 vans/tents) only takes reservations from December to February.



After picking a site with a choice view we see a fishman pull up to the nearby fish cleaning table. I send Keir over to chat. From John we learn that sharks (bronze whalers and thresher) visit the bay regularly as do stingrays. A ray makes an appearace right then and John gives us his fish heads to feed it. It comes surprisingly close, hovering over the carcasess. When it moves off there is absolutely nothing left of the fish. John offers to take us fishing the following morning should we like. We like very much we tell him!










After a light lunch we walk a kilometer or so back up the hill to where we saw a DOC trail off to a lookout point and to a beach. We choose the beach first where Keir has a peaceful swim. The lookout does just that - affords us a terrific view of the French Pass - where we watch the swirling waters toil.











Back at camp Peter shows up at our van. We met Peter and his son, Josh, briefly at Elaine Bay. They were one of the recipients of our extra mussels. Tonight we meet him properly as he shows up with a bin full of fresh caught snapper asking if we "would like some for tea?" What goes around comes around, it seems! Ummm, yes please?!?! We chat to them as they clean the fish up — these are some mighty good fisherman as they have only been out for a few hours and there are easily a dozen lovely snappers in their bin.



Dinner is unparalleled — as is the view.