Wednesday 8th February, UMASS, final day !!!!

Early breakfast and time to do a final sort of the suitcase before the flight tonight (hope it's OK....they seem hot on chraging for abnything over 23kg).

Set off for UMASS at about 9am.  Ken, Whitney and Andrea had already been to the marine lab to collect the sperm from the males so I was there for the novel bit, the fertilisation.  Firts check of the promising females was 10.30am....nothing, then 11.30am.....nothing, then 12.30pm........finally, a female reluctantly gave up her eggs

Ken gently squeezing eggs from a female

Only two of the promising females gave eggs so it was a bit of a dissapointment for the crewe.  Andrea was actually monitoring the effect of PCB's (polychlorinated byphenols....a by product of the electrical manufacturing industry) and so was sub sampling the eggs and crossing them with males exposed to various levels of PCB.

So with a couple of batches fertilised it was time to sit back and wait.  Ken told me it usually takes about 1.5-2 hrs before they know whether the fertilisation has taken place.......by counting the number of cell divisions in the developing embryo.  I was determined to hang on even though I was weary of the flight departure time and the rush our traffic into Boston.

Finallt at about 2.30pm we found what we were looking for, 4 cell devisions in the embryo, a sure sign of fertilisation.  I was very pleased and relieved to see this.

Fertilised American eel egg showing the 4 cell divisions after 2 hrs (Courtesy of Oliveira and Hable 2012

Well, that was it!!!!!  A fond farewell to all at UMASS and I fixed my attention to the journey to the airport.  fortunately the good folks at budget had programmend their address all the way home into the Sat Nav.

The only hiccupp was the final approach to Boston Airport, going underneath the Charles Rivver tunnel to Logan airport...the Sat Nav lost site of the Sat and was sending me off into the city centre!!!!

After a short argument, with voices raised on both sides we agreed to disagree and I headed for the Logan Airport sign.  I breathed a sigh of releif when I spotted the budget sign but the Sat nav was still trying to (unsportingly I felt) throw me off one last time.

It wasn't long before my bags were all checked in and I was awaiting departure.  i had time to reflect on an amazing trip and i must admit to being unable to supress a wry smile at the extent of my adventures.

These thoughts were all the more welcome when I calculated that it was just a 6 hour flight and 3-4 hrs on the train and bus to get home.  I planned to pick up my girls from school at 4.30pm on Thursday, what a re-union that would be. 

Tuesday 7th February, UMASS, Boston, the American Eel !

Up 6.30am to get breakfast and print out some directions.  Got a courtesy bus to the airport then had to wait for a Hire car shuttle to the Budget rental car section, this was 10 mins outside the airport.

Usual thing with rental cars, you think you have booked everything then they start to list the extras you might like:

“Would sir like wheels with this vehicle, we recommend it?”

Not quite this bad but stuff I thought would be standard such as :

Fuel, Roadside assistance, Medical assistance…..was not included.  Fortunately it was quite reasonable.  Decided to purchase the Sat’ Nav’ for an extra £10, it was to be a wise move.

Sat’ Nav’ did me proud on the way down south from the airport, very smooth journey and arrived after 1  hour and 1 minute, as predicted.

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth was a strange looking campus.  The buildings were finished in a bland concrete colour and had a strange “communist block” type look.  That said they appeared to be well resourced and well kitted out inside. 

Was a bit early so took a walk around, it was quite sweet to see the “kids” strutting around.  You forget how this stuff is such a life changing experience…..first time away from home, total independence, sports, relationships, great friendships…..good times.

Found my way to the office of Ken Oliveira, Associate Professor who specialises in the biology of the American eel.  Ken is a larger than life character who greets you like a long lost friend, like only the Americans can do.  After a brief tour of the labs we meet up with Whitney Hable, Assistant professor of Marine Biology and co-researcher on the eel’s project.

The plan was to head out to the marine lab and check the state of the eel brood stock, some of which are expected to spawn.  Quick stop for a Subway sandwich, I had a “footlong” with barbecued chicken, it was to weigh me down for the rest of the day.

At the Marine Lab Ken, Whitney and Andrea (research student) prepared the equipment to check and inject the female eels to induce spawning.  Obviously a well-rehearsed procedure, like a mini production line.

Ken, Andrea (centre) and Whitney process another female American eel

Andrea injecting a female with salmon pituitary extract

Each female was checked for ripeness and injected with a salmon pituitary hormone.  Those that were considered closest to spawning were “biopsied” to check egg quality and brought back to the campus for the final maturation hormone injection, DHP.  This would hopefully cause the females give eggs 16 hours later.

Back at the campus the eggs sampled were measured and checked under the microscope for assessment of condition.  Five females were selected for final injection which is given in 6 small shots, 3 on either side of the body spanning the length of the ovary.

Unfertilised American eel egg, approx 0.8mm in diameter, ready for final maturation (Courtesy of Oliveira and Hable 2012

So that was it, just have to wait until tomorrow.  Jumped in the car and programmed the Sat Nav to get me to the hotel room, it didn’t recognise the address but I managed to get near enough to ask.  Hotel was a bit out the way so it was definitely going to be a “night in”.

Had a lot of admin stuff to do so it worked out well….printing boarding pass, booking train tickets etc.  It was weird to think that this was my last night away, tomorrow it would be checking the female eels at the University, fertilising the eggs then heading home!!!

Monday 6th February

Guess what, another travelling day !!!!! 

Said goodbye to my brother at 6.30am (some crazy start times at his school!!).  My sister in-law Maddy dropped me off at the airport on her way to work.

After a couple of cups of coffee and an airport breakfast it was buckle up and read the safety card again.  I always feel obliged to know matter how many times I have flown. 

Thankfully it was a relatively short flight, 1 hour 25 mins.  I worked out this leaves me only one more flight….home.  Looking forward to seeing my girls, miss them a lot.

Everything went fine, collected bags and waited outside the airport for the courtesy bus.  What was supposed to be a 15 min wait turned out to be 1 hour and there was a biting Boston wind to contend with.  Mind you, they say that this is a very unusually mild winter, normally there would be snow drifts and blizzards. 

The courtesy bus took us way North out of town but fortunately there was a Mall and a couple of restaurants nearby.  Nice Hotel, big rooms and good value.

After a stroll around the Mall, Dick’s Sports Store is awesome, I had a burger at Buffalo Wings Restaurant and was spoilt for choice to watch the NBA or College basketball on one of the many big screens.

Back to the hotel and attempt to re-pack my fat suitcase before going to bed .  Looking forward to tomorrow, visit to University of Massachusetts.

Weekend 4th and 5th February

Got up around 11am on Saturday still in a zombie like state but was greeted with a large “bucket” of Starbucks coffee, Rob had picked one up on his way back from work (he teaches in a nearby by private school).

After the coffee had pumped around my veins and I was more or less fully awake we all headed out to the nearby historic Town of Occaquan.  I just love the America streets and Towns, there’s just something unique about the layout and the look.  It was early February and really should have been bitingly cold with snow, whilst you wouldn’t put your shorts on it was really quite mild.

We had breakfast in a quaint little red brick café.  It was about 200 years old which is ancient in the states.  Occaquan was an important native Indian settlement where the Potomac and Occaquan rivers converge originally providing a good source of food and travel for the settlers.

Main Street Occaquan

We then headed just down the road to the Occaquan National Wildlife Reserve.  Run by the US Fish and Wildlife this wetland reserve of about 650 acres is a former military testing site but now home to countless species of rare birds plus reptiles, amphibians and aquatic mammals as well as numerous deer.  Although it was relatively quiet on the animal front it was spectacular scenery in the sharp February air.  The confluence of the Potomac and the Occaquan was huge, it looked like a massive lake and must have been over 1.5 miles wide.

My brother Rob and his son Ronan on the banks of the Occaquan/Potomac river

After a couple of miles stroll around the park, where Maddy pointed out various Indian artefacts on the groud (arrow heads etc…..it’s her job) we went home to chill.  That night Rob, Ronan and I went to see “The Lady in Black” at the cinema, makes you jump a lot but predictably so…..good though.

Take out Mexican for tea and a hefty dose of Laurel and Hardy for the evening (tolerated well by Maddy), great day.

Sunday was an equally late rise, out the door by 11.00, had to drop off Ronan at his drama class.  Time for me to do a bit of souvenir hunting at Target, a sort of bargain store.

Back home by 3pm and managed to get a bit of work done then we headed out for tea.  Superbowl was on so the restaurant was very quiet, had a meat special….ribs, pork, chicken…mmmmmm.

In the evening we all sat down to watch JAWS, possibly my favourite film, timeless.  Everyone pretty tired so to bed by 11pm, found it hard to sleep, I think because of the knowledge that I was moving on again.

My brother's house (in the middle), Fairfax City, Virginia

Friday 3rd February - Moving on

Up and out by 7am and a short drive to drop off the hire car at Christchurch Airport.  It’s been a good car, if a little heavy on juice.  All checked in fine and waiting board on time for 9am.  Unfortunately there was no direct flight from Christchurch so I had to go to Auckland first.

Couple of hours wait and then it was settle down for the long-haul to Los Angeles.  This was a Qantas flight and well serviced with pretty good room in your seat.  Fortunately there were still quite a few movies that I hadn’t seen which helped to pass the long 11 hour flight.  If I tried to read I somehow got real sleepy after a short while, but then couldn’t sleep….so a movie marathon it was.

Got to LA without too much hassle and then it was a very quick turnaround to collect my bags and get through immigration and customs as it was only 1 hour before my connecting flight to Washington DC.  My younger Brother, Rob and his family, live in DC so it was nice to be able to take the opportunity to say Hi for the weekend before moving on to Boston.

At LA airport I was pulled aside by customs who wanted to talk to me about the number of countries I had visited (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand) before entering the USA.  It was one of those moments when you know you have nothing to hide but you start to worry about the plausibility of your story.  The more I explained about eels and my trip the more it sounded like I was making it up……then you start to picture yourself in a prison cell for a few days before your story cab be corroborated.  Fortunately the chap seemed genuinely interested and waived me through with no problem.

Back on board another plane and a restless 5 hours (I was surprised at how long it took us to fly across the states) to DC.  I was very glad to get off the plane.

My brother and his son, Ronan met me at the airport and whisked me the 30 minute drive back to the house.  It was great to catch up with brother, nephew and my sister in Law, Maddy.

Being a Friday, everybody was weary so we had some take-out food, chatted a bit and all went to bed.

After 24 hours on the road and precious little sleep, I was dead to the world by the time my head hit the pillow.

Wednest 1st and Thursday 2nd February 2012

Otaga University is just a stone’s throw from Dunedin Octagon City Centre, about a 5 minute drive from my motel.  I had arranged to meet Dr. Mark Lokman, a senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of Zoology.  Mark is a specialist in Endocrinology, particularly the mechanisms for fish reproduction and particularly eels.  Mark studied eel breeding with the Japanese and is actually married to a Japanese lady, although he tells me that he met her in a Sushi restaurant in Dunedin.

The Zoology main building is an old redbrick structure but has been expanded hugely with some very modern offices, labs and lecture rooms.  Bang on 9.30 I turned up to Marks office and we had a coffee and discussion regarding my visit and the work I am involved in back home.

Zooology building

After this Mark gave me a short tour of the lab and breeding facilities and introduced me to his students.  The two chaps working on Eels were Sean and Matt.  After this initial visit it was a nice long chat in the coffee room with Sean and Matt about Eels and fisheries in general.

The main aquatic wet lab

The Mark had arranged something really special for me, we were going to examine a mature female New Zealand Short Fin eel and take a biopsy of her eggs to check the stage of development.  So Matt took out this large “fat female” who was surprisingly docile even without anaesthetic. She was carefully placed on a damp towel and her eyes covered to keep her calm.  It always amazes me how covering the eyes seems to calm down all animals!!!!!!  I think we should try this with troublesome members of society…….oh wait we have it already, it’s called pepper spray.

Matt then inserted a catheter attached to a small syringe into the reproductive vent and proceeded to extract a few eggs which we placed under the low power microscope for inspection.

                                                                                sampling eggs from ripe female

This was really cool and apparently critical to the final maturation injection.  There is something like 10 egg development stages identified for eel eggs and if you don’t get the right stage then the final maturation injection will not work and the eggs will be non-viable.  Fortunately for us the eggs were at about stage 5-6 (as determined by the number of oil droplets in the egg) and so she was ready for the final injection later that night.

After a late lunch and further discussion it was time to leave the guys to it and I was invited to return the following day when the eggs would be ready for “stripping” precisely 10 hours after the final injection (nature is a marvellous thing).

Mark had said the Dunedin Museum was worth a look and also that I should check out the worlds steepest street a few blocks away.  The museum was indeed very good, a mixture of natural and cultural history with some really modern displays. 

Excellent Dunedin museum

The world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street was amazing, it made you feel dizzy just looking to the top, it was scary, I certainly wouldn’t have taken the hire car up there.  Just then someone took a big four wheel drive thing up the hill, it was like one of those cars from the film “Mad Max” it struggled, engine racing, to a stop about 20 yards from the top.  Then the engine started and roared and the car crept over the top in a huge cloud of black smoke…..awesome.

                                                                  Baldwin Street

Went home via Countdown, the big supermarket chain, and got some nice bread and garlic sausage for tea.  The internet was really good in my room so I was able to do a lot of work and admin stuff without interruption. 

The last hour of the evening I like to stroll downtown with my book by Michael Brown (the life of an eel fisherman) and read a few pages whilst sipping a cold beer.

A really good day, roll on tomorrow.

Thursday 2^nd February

Had to be at the University for 8.30am so we could check the male fish for ripeness and strip and store the sperm ready for the fertilisation around mid-day some time.

Matt and Mark got straight into it, lifting all the males (easy to tell as they are usually a good 5^th or quarter of the size of the females) out of the tank and into a salt water solution in a bucket with a little bit of clove oil for anaesthetic.  The anaesthetised eels were all laid out together on a damp towel and just left there while the process began.  This was amusing to me as if you had done this with salmon the second fish to be processed would likely not have recovered and certainly the third fourth and 5^th etc. would have perished.  I knew, like most people that eels can move overland but mark said that they can stay out of water for hours as long as they are moist 9they can absorb oxygen through the skin).

Each male was gently squeezed along the abdomen and a clean pipette was used to collect the neat sperm which was store in a small plastic tube with a lid called an eppendorf tube.

When all the males were done (about 20 !!!) we took the tubes, stored on iced, up to tone of the labs to check for motility.  This was basically the same as we do with our salmon.  A small amount of sperm is added to a clean slide and then to activate the sperm, salt water was added.  The slide was then quickly focussed under the X 10 lens on a high power microscope and an estimate made of the % of motile sperm (i.e. those actively swimming around trying to find and egg).  It was surprisingly low on average, around 10%.

Mark checking sperm motility

With the sperm samples ready we prepared to strip the female at 12.00 mid-day.  The signs were good, she was enlarged and some eggs were dripping from her.  Matt and Sean dried her off and each held and “end” whilst they lifted her up so that the vent was directly over the stripping bowl.  The crude process of manual stripping involves gently squeezing the abdomen until the eggs physically run out of the vent, too soft and they won’t move, too hard and you can damage organs.

                                                       Matt and Sean stripping eggs from the female

Fortunately the eggs seemed to come out pretty easily, a sort of opaque gelatinous goo with the eggs just visible at about just over 1mm in diameter.  As with salmon eggs the sperm vials were added and mixed in before the sperm were activated with water and started swimming for the micropyle (hole in the egg). 

This was really neat and something I had not seen before and what I was here to learn about.  You can read as many papers and text books as you like but until you see the actual process for yourself you don’t really become proficient.  Sean was not too impressed with the way these eggs were developing, he reckoned they were a bit early.  You can tell by the rate of water absorption and the time of the first few cell divisions (looking under low power) as too whether the eggs will survive or not.

So after lunch we decided to have one more go and this time I got to help strip the female which was good experience for me.  Sea was too confident about the quality of the eggs though.  The eggs were put into a basic aerated incubator (the good ones float and the bad ones sink)and left overnight.

Matt and I stripping the remaining eggs

Sean told me that the eggs would be shipped up North to Nelson so that they could have a go at rearing them through to larvae.  Ironically it was the same shellfish hatchery that I had visited 10 years ago on holiday.

fertilised eggs in incubator

So that was it for me, after much hand shaking and many a heartfelt thank you it was time to move on.  Not for the first time on this trip I went away marvelling at the kindness of total strangers and how they give up their time to help you.

Well, I knew it was going to be a long drive up to Christchurch (about 4 hrs. without a stop) so I hit the road pretty much straight away.

It was a cracking drive again but this time I was more focussed on reaching my motel before it got dark and before the kids went to bed back home, this is always important to me and rounds the day off nicely.  I never feel that good if a day goes by without speaking to home.

The journey was very smooth and I got to really like the New Zealand talk radio….. I think the whole four hours of the show was taken up by people phoning in competing for the best “drop you kids off at school a day early (before term time)…story”.  Got to my Motel on the edge of the Central Business District without error by following my hand scribbled notes and a rather vague tourist map, who needs Sat Nav.

Just time to chuck my stuff in the room and skype home.  The Motel manager was careful to explain about the wireless internet and that the signal was not too good and prone to drop out which actually turned out to mean that it didn’t work!!!!  This was the most annoying thing about my trip, I had carefully chosen my hotel destinations so that they had good and preferably free internet access.  This was so important for communicating with the next port of call, keeping up with finances and bookings and also keeping in touch with home.  I would say that 50% of establishments either had “broken” servers or misled you with their claims of “free Wi Fi” – i.e. it’s free for the first 20 mins or 5mb, whichever comes first.  This really bugged me as it was one of the most important criteria for me.  I wonder how people used to carry out long term travel before the internet and mobile phones, at the very least I could text.

Evidence of the earthquake in February was all around, in fact the old Church across the street from the motel was ¾’s demolished.  Walking around you could see strange empty lots where the grass had grown over and it look like a new building plot, obviously where a house had been pulled down some months earlier.  It was strange how some properties were clearly showing the worse for wear, with great cracks and then heaps of scaffolding and huge supports all over, whilst next door was fine!!  You couldn’t help feeling sorry for the poor folk who’d lost everything and the fact that re-building was taking so long, the whole of the central business district was still fenced off to pedestrians and weekly aftershocks were still happening.  Still everybody seemed used to it somehow, I guess they had no choice but to carry on with their daily lives.

Well, it had been a good spell in New Zealand and I must admit to being a little sad, tomorrow it was off to the USA and the last phase of my journey.

Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st january 2012

After a fond farewell to Caroline and the kids on Monday morning I started the long journey down South to Dunedin.

I had an unexepected upgrade to a rather plush looking Hyundai hire car which combined with the spectacular scenery, made the driving a complete pleasure.  I was aiming for a Town called Ashburton, which was about 7 and half hours from Nelson, I felt the full 11 hour journey to Dunedin was too much for me in one day.

After about 3 and a half hours I stopped in Kaikoura, a small town famous  for whale watching, for a refreshing cup of coffee.

Kaikoura

Most of the road was right on the edge of the coast and provided the most amazing backdrop.  I don’t think the pictures really do it justice.  As you travel along you are struck by the shear scale of the wilderness areas.

Vast fruit plantation

Stunning east coast views, visible for 3 hours

By 7.30pm I had reached my motel ready for a good meal.  I decided to cook for myself to save a few bucks but in my rush to get to the shops before they closed missed a few ingredients for my Chicken Stroganoff.  It wasn’t my best (using tomato ketchup instead of puree) but it was welcome.  The room was good but yet again I was met with disappointment regarding the internet access, despite a couple of hours of trying neither myself or the manager could get me hooked up to the WiFI. This was disappointing as the internet is my lifeline to my family, work and for this blog and I carefully choose the hotels based on access to it, preferably for free.

Next morning I rose early and cooked my own sausage butties (mmmm!!), did my washing and packed up my stuff to move on.  Meanwhile the Motel manager was still trying solve the internet problem and by 9am he had resorted to unplugging and rebooting all his routers.  Low and behold, it worked so I had an hour to Skype home, do my accounts and check directions to the next stop.

The next 4 hours from Asburton to Dunedin seemed to go a little slower that the day before despite being a good bit shorter but I think this was mostly fatigue.  By 1.30pm I was in Dundedin, a Southern city a lot bigger than I had expected with a city centre neatly laid out in a series of streets in the shape of an octagon.

Smack bang city centre of the Octagon

I found my way to the motel easily by following the street plan.  It was an excellent location and clean, all at a very reasonable price. It’s always a relief to get where you are going to after a long journey, nothing more stressful than driving around after a long day when you cant find the right street but you know it’s nearby.

I dumped my stuff and explore the city for a couple of hours.  For tea I decided to go to the supermarket and get some cheese and ham and buy some fresh bread to make my own sandwiches, very nice.

My Motel, my room top left with balcony!!!

After an evening stroll I returned to the room to complete a few admin tasks and contact Dr Mark Lokman of the University of Ontago to confirm the details of tomorrows visit.  Really looking forward to that, mark has some eels that he thinks will spawn!!!!

I retired to bed with book for a good nights sleep.

Friday 27th - Sunday 30th january 2012 - family weekend

Friday morning was time to pack up and leave the hotel room and head to the airport for a flight to Nelson.  I had quite a late flight so I spent the first couple of hours wondering around the waterfront area of Auckland and visited the Maritime Museum.  This was a very interesting experienced, especially how the island was first colonised by the Polynesians over 700 years ago.  It also gave a good account of the “endeavours” of James Cook (sorry about the pun) to claim the Island for Great Britain through to the Treaty of Waitangi giving the Maori sovereignty over their own land.  It was also interesting to see how “whaling” (banned in the 1950’s) was to play an important part in the industrialisation of this nation   

Replicas and models of "outriggers" that would have been used by early Maori settlers

After a short flight later that afternoon I arrived in Nelson.  Nelson is the Northern most tip of the South island and it’s also where my wifes’ sister and family live so I delighted to pay them a visit.  My wife and I last visited 11 years ago so it was quite strange to see my cute little niece and nephew (Joseph and Gemma) now as young adults studying at University.  It was also nice to meet the youngster, Thomas, who I had only spoken to on the phone before.

Thomas and I chewing the fat at the racetrack

I stayed with Caroline and the kids for the weekend, which was really warm and sunny, and we did all sorts of local sight seeing.  We went to the local market, visited the local beach where somebody had built a magnificent “hut” out of driftwood and even managed a few laps of the local Go-Kart track.

On Sunday the “Kids” took me North to the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park to a beautiful beach resort where we took a mountain track to some spectacular lookouts.  On the way we stopped off at Jester House, a small Café site famous for, wait for it………feeding wild eels.  After crossing a small wooden bridge over a tiney stream no more than 1.5m wide, imagine my amazement and excitement to see a couple of kids down by the waterside surrounded by these huge (the biggest had to be 7KG) eels.  Needless to say I was so excited I charged into the shop and hastily paid for a little pot of meat scraps and scrambled down to the waters edge.  For the next 20 mins I fed these wonderful creatures, stroking their slippery skin, as they writhed onto the rocks near my feet……awesome.

Joseph in the DIY beach hut made from driftwood

me feeding river monsters

It was great to catch up with family but all too quickly I had to move on.                                    

last night family meal

THURSDAY 26TH JANUARY – MAHURAGI TECHNICAL INSTITUTE (MTI)

An early breakfast and a quick Skype home before being picked up outside the hotel by David Cooper of the MTI.  David lives just outside Auckland so he makes the hour long journey to Warkworth every day, luckily for me the hotel is on the way.

David is the Special Projects manager for MTI and on our journey to Warkworth he tells me all about his background in the aquarium trade and how he came to work for MTI.  David is a “fish nut”, as we say in the trade, so passionate about his work and his love for all things fishy that can be cultured.  He is really engaging about all things and so we cover fish, families, politics, it’s a really easy hour.

When we arrive David gives me a quick tour and overview of the whole business.  It’s a privately run institute and covers a huge variety of marine and aquaculture issues.  MTI offers training on Marine Engineering, hospitality, fire fighting/lifesaving as wells as the aquaculture research.

David then introduced me to Paul Decker, the Director of the Institute.  Over coffee we discuss our backgrounds and the vagaries of the aquaculture industry, feels like I’m talking to two old mates.  Paul is a True Blue Susie with a very jovial and friendly misdemeanour which belies his shrewd acumen and a wealth of technical and practical experience.  It is obvious that he is held in high esteem by his colleagues.

After a tour of his native New Zealand fish species aquaria, David takes me just down the road to a private fish farm who MTI use for supplying research fish.  It’s quite a large site with many large ponds growing grass carp, silver carp or goldfish/koi carp.  In one corner of the farm was a 3m diameter fibreglass tank which David tells me contains silver carp.  I was aware of the reputation of grass carp for jumping when being spooked but this was something different.  David put a net in the tank and stirred it around as I leant over the edge to see what was in there.  After a few seconds I jumped back to avoid the explosion of huge carp (10-15lb) shooting across the tank in mid-air at a rate of knots.  So ferocious was the response that one fish actually jumped clean out of the tank.

Nearby carp and ornamental farm

juvenile grass carp ready to be shipped out for weed control

one of the torpedo like silver carp that jumped out, they'll knock your head off.

After this we went to a small restaurant in Warkworth on the banks of the Mahurangi River.  This area was famous for being the first big commercial logging town in NZ.  We had a chicken salad sandwich that must have been nearly 8 inches wide, I think they call that deep filled.

Back to MTI and ready for the “Eel experience”.  Paul had insisted that he lead this tour.  Unfortunately, one of the MTI staff, Tagried (who I had been corresponding with prior to the trip) was not there, she was in Borneo on research.  However, fortunately for me I had met her just before Christmas.  She lives in Buckinghamshire part of the year and NZ the rest.  She phoned me up just before Christmas to say she was in the country and asked if she and her husband could visit my hatchery on the 23^rd December.  It was great to meet her and her husband and we had some very long and intense discussions.

Paul showed me his broodstock tanks, black header tanks of about 250 litres, each with their own lid and photo manipulation light.  I saw several sizeable short fin eels and Paul even picked up one of the “River monsters” featured on a recent Discovery Channel programme.  According to Paul and David their success was down mostly to broodstock conditioning (by manipulating light and temperature) and they required only one injection to induce spawning.  Paul reckoned that with this method they could produce eggs with a high fertilisation virtually 52 weeks of the year.

Broodstock tanks

Director of MTI, Paul Decker with a "river monster", NZ longfin

Of the several tanks of eel in this broodstock room Paul was particularly proud of his “TV stars”.  These eels were famous for having featured in an episode of “Spartacus”, the slightly risqué Roman Soap that was recently played out on Sky.  The TV Company needed some “tame” eels to use in a scene where they would seductively slither over a naked females body bathing in a spa.  The handler would be required to place the eels on the naked girls’ body, possibly over several shots.  Paul decided that he was probably best qualified to undertake this task.

One of the famous "Spartacus" eels

We then had a short tour of the egg and larval room which was empty at the moment but it was obvious how these guys used their ingenuity to refine the culture and husbandry techniques as they came up against various problems.

Egg and larval rearing room

It was a very informative and entertaining day and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the MTI team as they were finding it hard to attract funding to continue the work, this seems to be a similar story wherever I go.  Anyway it was nice to be amongst people who get pleasure out of trying to breed aquatic species without the textbook and were excited about constructing new systems that may just solve the mysteries of their life cycles.

Paul (left) and David outside the MTI main lecture rooms and offices

David kindly dropped me at the hotel back in downtown Auckland and we vowed to keep in touch, he is coming over to the UK in May so we hope to meet up then.  

Wednesday 25th January, rest day

WEDNESDAY 25^TH JANUARY

Got up early despite the journey, still having issues with the time zones.  Skyped home to check in with Sharon and the kids, what a blessing that is.

My Auckland digs, Copthorne Hotel, just outside city centre.

Well today was earmarked as an admin and necessary jobs (washing my clothes) morning with a bit of sightseeing in the evening. 

Started off with a bit of a shock, internet, that was advertised as free Wi Fi, was only free in the lobby for 20MB.  That was a bit naughty, I needed the privacy to work so it cost me $12 NZ for 2 hrs. (Over £6).  Anyway did a couple of work emails and then decided to do my laundry.

I read in the hotel brochure that they provided a laundry service but this was bound to be expensive so I decided I would find a public Launderette and save a few bucks.  A quick search on the internet revealed that there was one on Short Road, in the City centre, about 15 mins walk.  Off I strolled with a hefty bag of clothes “requiring attention”.  Using the hotel basic map I arrived where I thought it was but nothing doing!!!  After asking in a nearby Convenience store, I was told by an Indian Lady that it had closed down; however there was one further west on Beach Drive.

Another 15 mins later and it wasn’t looking promising, nothing like a launderette.  I asked a local who thought for a minute and then exclaimed, delighted with himself, that there was one in the local Countdown (supermarket) just down the road.  Another 15 mins and I arrived at the Countdown, made my way to the first floor, as instructed and my heart sank, there, in front of me was a dry cleaners!!!!  After asking a couple of store members it was clear that nobody was quite sure, they knew there was one but, where it was………!!

A young lad stacking shelves was certain that there was one on Symonds Road, near the University area, it sounded promising.  Another 30 mins and I was in the centre of the city but there was no sign of anything vaguely resembling a washeteria.  I stopped a sophisticated mature looking lady and asked the question again, she assured me she knew the area well but she could not think of a facility such as the one I wanted.

I made an executive decision and decided to call off the mission and return to base.  It was a hot day and so I returned to the hotel sweating heavily, exhausted and bad tempered.  I decided to do what I should have done first thing and ask at the front desk, surely the hotel would have this information.

“yes sir” said the receptionist, “I can tel you where the nearest launderette is……it’s downstairs in the basement”

So, $3 NZ dollars later I had completed my first job, albeit 2 hrs behind schedule.

In the late afternoon I strolled into Auckland City Centre for a walk round and purchased a couple of souvenirs.  It’s quite a small city centre so getting around was easy.  I found the general prices quite expensive compared to the UK.

Back at the hotel it was another $12 to so some more on line stuff, booking flights and hotel rooms, and then I needed and early night.

Looking forward to tomorrow and a visit to the Mahuragi technical Institute.

Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th January 2012

Well this was going to be another travelling day but my flight from Hong Kong to Sydney was a late flight so I checked out, left my bags and headed into town on the MTR.

I promised my Mother in Law, Ann (who was born in China and lived in Hong Kong for many years) that I would phone family friends, the Hammonds (who live in Hong Kong) and wish them Happy New Year.  The next few days were a big holiday in China and Hong Kong with family getting together, this was going to be the year of the Dragon.  The Hammonds were surprised to hear from me, I didn’t want to invade their holiday but they insisted we meet up.

After an hour or so of trinket shopping Chris Hammond was good enough to pick me up from the General Post Office in Central Hong Kong and take me up the hill to the family home.  We had a nice natter over coffee and Victoria sponge and even managed to Skype home.  Sharon was chuffed to speak to one of her closest childhood friends, Caroline Hammond.  It always amazes me how kids grow up in just a few years if you haven’t seen them, Jamie and Tash are sweet kids.  Chris kindly dropped me back to the MTR station so I made my way back to the hotel to pick my bags.

From here it was a taxi to the Airport Shuttle train and then a half hour journey to the airport.  I’m getting used to waiting in airports now so it was a chance to catch up with a bit of reading.  I have just started “Moonlighting” by Michael Brown……Tales and misadventures of a working life with eels.  It’s a thoroughly honest and entertaining snapshot of the early days of levering and eel fishing for the commercial trade in Europe.  Working in fish farming all my life I am familiar with some of the difficulties in trying to keep fish alive!!!!

After a long flight (10 hrs.) I arrived in Sydney for a transfer to Auckland but had to wait  4 hrs.  Chance to catch up with some of the cricket.

Slightly shorter flight (3 hrs. had enough of planes for today though) and we land in Auckland.  Easy passage through and jumped on a shuttle downtown to the Hotel on the edge of the City Centre.  So tired, just went straight to bed for a long sleep, nothing else to say.

21st and 22nd January 2012

Saturday was really a travelling day.  Got the hugely impressive High speed rail from Taichung to Taoyuan, very clean and tidy.  I like the way you actually stand on the platform where your carriage arrives.  I had to get the airport bus to the Taoyuan airport which was a bit of a queue but nothing horrendous.  The good thing was that I was able to check in my bag at Taoyuan HSR.

Flight was pretty swift so got to Hong Kong by about 4.30.  Got a taxi to the hotel which was in Mong Kok.  Just nipped out for a bite to eat then back to the hotel to “Skype” home and type up some notes.

Off to bed early, shattered.

Sunday

Day of rest and a bit of wonder round Hong Kong.  Got the Metro (MTR) from Price Edward Street Station out to Central station in Hong Kong, it goes from Kowloon side, under the harbour to main Hong Kong Island. Very cheap, about £1.

My wife Sharon (she was born and grew up in Hong Kong) had left me precise instructions, I was to visit her favourite Dim Sum restaurant in City Hall for lunch, how could I refuse!!!!!  After a bit of “map dancing”……..you spin round several times staring alternately down and up, do a fake right then back left etc., I located my position and headed towards city hall.

It was quite cool for Hong Kong, everybody was in overcoats and quite a few had face masks to stop the cold air going up there nose (I am told).  I was in a t-shirt and on the point of sweating!!!!

I noticed the “Gold Finger building”, famous in the James Bond film with Roger Moore, which was right behind City Hall.  After a short wait, after all it was the start of Chinese New Year so a lot of families were out together, I got my seat.

I had no hesitation in ordering a bowl of fried rice and a plate of char sui (Chinese roast pork – my favourite).  The dim sum (sort of little starters) comes round on trolleys so you just stop the waitress and ask for what you want, they all carry different dishes.  I had some har gau (prawns in a soft casing) and sui mai (chopped pork and prawn in a sort of soft won ton case).  Left very full but very happy!!!!!

After that I decided to take the Ferry back to Kowloon to the famous shopping area of Tsim Tsa Tsui.  The Star Ferry is great, old 1950’s boats chugging backwards and forwards all day long to the various Islands, very cheap, about 20p. Took loads of pictures as I knew this would bring back many memories for Sharon.  Headed up to the main shopping area on Nathan Road, passed the very plush Peninsula Hotel with loads of Rolls Royce’s parked outside (again I think Roger Moore pulled up outside here in the James Bond film).  I resisted the temptation to walk in as if I was staying there, come to think of it the chances of getting in were slim with my “NBA City” t- shirt, light Peter Storm walking trousers and carrying a bag of cheap market trinkets!!!!!!!

Spent the rest of the day wondering back towards My Hotel (it’s about a couple of miles) through the shopping area and then in the evening the famous Temple Street markets.  The market stalls are very colourful but you are expected to haggle and being British I am not very good at it “No, I insist on paying double, you work long hours in cramped, hot conditions……….”  They just look at you.

Some of the most interesting places are the food stalls, especially the fresh fish and meat.  And when I say fresh……. There are buckets of living fish, frogs, crabs act being sprayed with water, and you just take your pick.

Got back to Price Edward Street quite late so grabbed a grilled chicken sandwich and drink a restaurant near the hotel and looked excitedly through my bag of Chinese gifts, full to bursting but cost about £30 in total…..that’s my kind of shopping.

Got home just in time to Skype the kids to bed and do a few admin jobs then off to bed.  Really enjoyable day.