Father and Son Getaway Retreat
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting three good men here in Tairua.
The Roberts boys escape and get together once a year to somewhere new, and choose a destination and activity each year that broadens the mind and their outlook on life. Our kind of guys!
We were stoked they chose us this year, and we put together four days, based on our Men’s Wellbeing Retreat for them. Usually these retreats are men from different walks of life meeting for the first time, so it was cool for us to try this format with a close knit family who know each other, tailor it to them, and we think its something that works equally great for family and friends!
As usual Tairua turned on a stunning week for these men but there were a couple of moments in particular that will be etched in all of our memories for most of our days.
The first was day two of their adventure, we were tucked in a stunning bay having a lunch break, chilling, snorkelling, eating fishcakes and as usual there were a few sqwauking seagulls having around hoping for a free feed. Out of nowhere a falcon swooped in a 200km hour and joined lunchtime axing a live seagull out of nowhere and then proceeded to sit on a cliff above us eating it. Too cool what you get to see when you sit still and look at what’s going on at the Aldies some days instead of rushing past! We really got to see nature doing it’s thing, it was something out of a David Attenbourough TV show!
The second mind blowing experience was day three, we’d caught a few kingfish for each of the boys, some fun ones in close and then some out wide of the Aldies. Catching some kingfish was something they were very keen to do - both to catch and eat while they were here in Tairua, and to take some quality kai home. Changing spots, I was in the process of setting a few lures en route to the islands for lunch again, and telling the guys the theory behind trolling lures for marlin and tuna, when, with only three lures out a stripey can hard into the closest lure, for all to see, and the boys were hooked up, only minutes in to the game fishing career! Yo was on the rod, and did well considering he was in a moon boot! Ioan took over when it got closer to the boat, and Dad Dewy helped take the wheel for me while I leadered the fish to the boat. Then all hands were required to get this fat fish on board! Marlin, in my mind is a great eating fish, especially the fat mid 100kg fish, have awesome fat content. They are also reasonably abundant and fast growing fish. We didn’t bother with a weigh station, even though this fish would easily have gone 150kg, it was off to our fillet bench at base, and processed with respect. Lots of sashimi cuts, kebab cuts, and then a large portion of it getting preserved in the smoker for the next few months kai for all on board, and their friends and family.
For the rest of the week I spent a lot of time in the Nutritional Psychology space with the boys, showing them how to plan for and cook and eat a paleo and ketogenic style diet. We ate well!
I must have done something right because when the matriach of the family visited the next week to help collect the smoked marlin I got asked “Carl, I have been trying to get my boys to eat healthy for 20 years, you did it in four days - how did you bloody do it?!”
Gold! Possibly the best feedback a fishing guide come health coach could ever ask for!