Last week a guy visiting Dunedin from Australia asked me why nobody was fishing. I didn't really have a good answer for him, but my curiosity was piqued.
 
Exactly one day later I shunned the surf altogether (yep, this was a bit frightening to me also) and went fishing near Second Beach with my mate Steve Bates. Blue cod was the only thing on our minds – the tastiest fish in the world.
 
We were both a little rusty and the precarious fishing spot didn't have much room for error, so we were being very cautious. We threw about $8.50 worth of sinkers and hooks into the green abyss below us and pulled out about 50c worth after two hours – the rest tangling in kelp, rocks and other mysteries of the deep. I did get one significant strike that would have to have been a blue cod at least as tall as me.
 
We went home empty handed, but returned to another spot up the Otago Peninsula the next evening. This time we pulled out one decent blue cod and another fish that looked more like a swamp creature from a horror movie (which Steve promptly ate – delicious apparently).
 
We probably lost another $5.50 in tackle, taking the cost of our fishing trips to $13 – about the same price you'd pay for a delicious family feed of blue cod from Harbour Fish in town. Hmmm ... but we'd got to see two beautiful sunsets, meet some friendly seals and enjoy time in a part of the Otago Peninsula that few people ever get to experience. Good times.
 
It's easy to forget the charms of the Otago Peninsula when you're busy working in the city all year, but it really is an asset to us all and offers some incredible lifestyle benefits with its great fishing, wildlife, bird-watching, cycling, walking trails and surf beaches. On January 29, the annual Otago Peninsula Challenge will be taking place and it's an incredible journey across parts of the peninsula that are only opened once a year. Get a bunch of your workmates together and walk, run or ride a section of it. It's great fun and there are different course lengths to suit everyone. Enter here before January 24.
 
See you at the beach ... or on the Peninsula!