As we flew 300 feet above the tree line, a thick canopy of Beech Trees sprawled out beneath us for as far as the eye could see. The “wap wap wap” of the helicopter blades slicing through the air temporality silencing the chorus of the millions of Cicadas who inhabit this forest, where the males of the species vibrate their tymbals, a noise-producing organ on the side of their abdomen, in the hope of attracting females to mate.

After five days of rain on the north island I decided to fly south to visit my friend Chris Bell who guides out of the Christchurch area. Felt very fortunate that Chris had an open day and was able to guide us. Christchurch is a really nice town with a great vibe to it and with Chris available for a day, the prospect of a couple of rain free nights in Christchurch, or so I thought, was all I needed to jump on a plane south.

If you are like me, you are wondering where the summer went and how it could have possibly gone by so fast? I feel like I blinked and it was over and I can’t ever recall a summer that went by so quickly. I think that may be a symptom of a post covid hangover where time has taken on a surreal quality that I am still having trouble processing.

Every so often, I am absolutely floored by a new property I’ve come across and decided to check out. I just got back from such an experience in Northern British Columbia, where I visited the Northern Lights Lodge, in the Cariboo Mountain range watershed. A big part of what got me on a 5-hour plane ride west and then another hour north was the lodge’s heavy emphasis on dry fly fishing in their pitch to get me out to visit them.