WHAT A DAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 281, 10 March 1941, Page 5

WHAT A DAY

day that can be guaranteed to spread'its memories to many theatres of war right across the world!

A WHALE OF A STORY THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT' The Whakatane district of the Bay of Plenty has ever enjoyed the reputation of extending bounteous welcome to sportsmen sjnd visiting firemen, but informed people are of the opinion that the district excelled itself last Wednesday.

A local mine host (who'd motf;o is "Its good for you") arranged a fishing party on the Harbour Board launch mainly for the entertainment of a life-long friend of hisj— a well known and popular Wellington business man. The party also included a .local professional man and his "final leave" son; an airman (also on final leave) and hrs wife, a local financial wizard, a Bay of Plenty agent who claimed continued night work more than balanced his sneaked day off —a little shopkeeper, two Whakatane youths who were burying an odd aunt, and of course the captain.

The financial wizard trolled a nice Kingfish en route to the fishing grounds and almost at once tlie whole party had "broken thenducks" with much badinage and, bacK slack. Soon quite an assortment of fine fish silvered tjie bottom of the launch graduating from minute "tommy cods" to quite a good hapuka, the latter a victim of the agent who was wielding a murderous rod. The lone lady was not quite so intent upon the job in hand and rapturoTisly identified in turn flying fish, porpoise and penguin, what time she greeted the landing of each fish with squeals of delight. Then the little shopkeeper broke a temw porary silence by saying in a strangled kind of voice "I know its early in the day—-but I have just seen a swordfish leap out of the *\vater over there." Hoots and yells of derision Immediately became his reward. Even the Wellington business man —soaked in deep sea fishing*'lore by the w r ay—ventured to suggest a porpoise but no!— the little shopkeeper was adamantine. He swore he had seen it just there—and he pointed. Then just as if responding to a signal out leapt the swordie and gangled along the surface of the water right on his tail for quite some heart beats. Long enough to vindicate, the little storekeeper any how, and for the captain to explain that the giant fish shook sea lice off themselves in that manner. Well, what with fresh air excitement and hard fishing the party swept the chicken off the bones in short order —slaked the old thirst a little—and got back to the fishing Again the little shopkeeper broke the silence. This time his voice was both strangled and apologetic. "Please," he said, "ii I hadn't just had lunch I would say * that I had just seen a whale blow out past the Raurimus." Honestly, that launch load of folks sirrjply tore him tp pieces. The swordie had been hard, enough to swallow but a whale ! No, by Jonah, they would have no part of it: when amidst an awe-struck silence a real live ;whale shouldered itself majestically along the top of the water —blew in mighty con-tempt—-disappeared —and spent the next half hour cruising slowly back wards and forwards. So near tc the launch was he that the noise of, his blowing could be distinctly heard by all aboard

All the time the professional man had comandeercd the dinghy and had done all his highly successful fishing from it. As the sun sank westward he made a neat job of cleaning and scaling his catch and as the launch puttered homewards he climbed inboard leaving his catch neatly displayed in the dinghy.

All was set to build up to quite a elimax. There was only one hour's tide over the bar so the skipper took her in very tenderly.

He chose his wave and the Booat chugged quietly over the bar when the dentist's son after glancing sternwards yelled "Look out" and a following wave jumped up from where—■piched up the dinghy sideways on like nn egg shell, and bashed it against the stern rails almost completely wrecking the taffrail.

In one split second the financial wizard and one of the youths were not only drenched with sea water but were liberally plastered with the dentist's beautifully prepared assortment oflfrsh too ! What a finale! so •'ended a (Continued foot