By Peter Dedrick:

How do you say 'Pass the @#%$& winch cable!' in Japanese?

I didn't know then and I still don't. Fortunately, however, 95% of communication is non verbal and we managed to extricate ourselves from a rather unpleasant situation.

Over the last couple of years we have hosted students who have been on a school exchange program from Nagoya in Japan. A new experience for us. We soon realised, however, that 17 year old Japanese boys enjoy much the same things as 17 year old Australian boys and that patting koalas and kangaroos is well down on their list of priorities. The MCG, where they acquired essential English like 'Go Pies', was a great hit.

My son, who visited Japan last Christmas, told me that Nagoya is at least an hour from the beach, which is really not all that flash once you got there. We therefore decided to try and give them experiences they would probably not get back home. Fishing from a battered 13 foot tinnie seemed ideal.

We took our first student to Inverloch and he didn't seem too wrapped in the experience. In his speech at a school function, before he left, however, he mentioned that going out in a boat was one of the highlights of his trip.

The second trip, with another student, was in May this year, again to Inverloch. We bought fish and chips (probably indicating a defeatist attitude) launched the boat and headed accross to Point Smythe where we beached it, had lunch and broke out the rods. It wasn't long before our guest was hooked on to a salmon of reasonable proportions, his first fish. Grinning from ear to ear he posed for the required photos.

The day went down hill from there. There were no more fish and I made the fatal mistake, when retrieving the boat at the ramp, of taking things too casually. In short, I didn't realise that when the tide is almost full, the sandbar at the entrance is covered and it is like retrieving in the open ocean. As I retrieved the boat, the incoming tide took it sideways and broke one of the skids off the trailer. A couple of waves over the stern resulted in a boat half full of water.

So there the three of us were, up to our waists in the water trying to wrestle with a sodden boat. With some help from locals and the use of a bubble type life jacket as a replacement skid (about all they're good for anyway) we managed to retrieve the boat. I then realised I had forgotten to turn on the hot water at the house. So much for an Australian cultural experience.

It was worth it the next day. Our guest seemed overawed by the beauty of the Bunnarong coast line. Made me realise that we live in a pretty good place.

The third student we took fishing was a very keen fisherman. He had brought with him two boxes of the most beautiful lures I had ever seen and told us how his family (from Osaka) had a boat and that they fished for 'fish with long...', 'Marlin?', I said. 'Yes, Marlin'. Fortunately half a bucket of Black Rock flathead was an acceptable substitute. He was a very accomplished fisherman and outfished me at least 3 to 1. The fine hooks he was using may have helped and I am planning to visit a shop in Melbourne that specialises in Japanese fishing tackle to try and get some. We can learn a lot from others.

I'm also looking forward to a trip with his family if I eventually get to Japan.

(30 October 2001)


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