I retire next June, and my wife and I will live in what has been called “frugal comfort.” That is, we will have enough to eat, drink, travel, and fish. No kids, no parents, no obligations. I have here in Korea some of the most interesting bass fishing I have ever had. I fly fish almost exclusively, largely wading in shallow rivers. My wife fly and spin fishes. We both tie.
Korea is essentially troutless, and we want a good shot at trout. In addition, the coastal waters here are the quintessential overfished aquatic desert, and we would like some salt fishing from land, or wading. We are not after the ?weekend of our life? in Bermuda, or ?the fish of our lives.? My philosophy is one of making every day a good day. That is, a day without at least one fine meal is a wasted day. An evening meal without a bottle of wine is a wasted meal. And a week without at least two solid days of fishing is a wasted week.
Six days of hot dogs and cokes followed by a meal at a two-star restaurant is hardly an ideal week. Different strokes?. Likewise, six months of good twice-a-week real-world fishing is far better than a six-month period with the only fishing being a week at a lodge in Northern Canada. (With that price tag for two that would support a month in Paris.)
To show how serious we are: I have spent considerable time on the Web trying to figure out how to migrate to New Zealand. Seems they have no desire to have a 65-year-old man settle there and drain the health system for a couple of decades. There is no retirement category.
I am certified in high school science teaching, and New Zealand needs science teachers, especially up in Auckland. (The most expensive area, plus the farthest from daily fishing, and so the least desirable.) There is no mandatory retirement age for teachers in New Zealand, but it seems that getting a work permit after 56 is tough, but according to some sites, not impossible. I?m still checking, but it doesn?t look promising.
A funny thing that keeps popping up on official NZ government Websites is that the foreign teachers they accept are usually from countries with a similar language and culture: Ireland, the UK, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. My country of origin, the US, although English-speaking, is conspicuously absent. A couple of Kiwis I once met in Thailand told me that NZ has an attitude that ?we are all in this together,? which they concluded was distinctly not typically American, as shown by American voting patterns. The Kiwi couple also said religion in their country is much more of a private affair. So even if I were a decade younger, my cultural background might not pass the test. I could show them my Che tee-shirt, but a certificate validating my church non-attendance since I was 13 would be hard to come by.
My wife is 38, and if she had majored in nursing or special childhood education, we could do it from her end, but she majored in art. We seriously considered having her enroll in a NZ nursing school. I could go as family (couldn?t work, wouldn?t need to anyway, not at all). Upon graduation, she (and her husband, me) could become a Kiwi. But her English, while quite nice, would have to make a quantum leap to get accepted at a univeristy. The English part is much harder than the nursing part.
All this is to indicate how much we want some seriously long-term trout fishing, and coastal fishing. But as for New Zealand, it is not just the trout and snappers. The country (from what I hear) is beautiful and has a great climate, and in addition has a profoundly attractive culture. And you can fish all day on a river and may well see no other fishermen. (Unlike places in the US where people may have to wait in line to fish a run or a pool.) I would instantly start the citizenship process if given a chance. But, alas?.
That is the background. Now the questions.
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What would be a good country to move to (or live long-term in) to trout fish and ocean fish.
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What would be a good country to visit for a while to trout fish. Mongolia could be one. (It has the ?dream? $12,000 week for two.) Everything is so vague about Mongolia. Guides seem to be connected only to ?resorts.? On your own where the populace speaks zero English, well?. I hear it is completely safe for camping. I also know, from non-fishing friends who have been there, that the Mongolian diet is primarily cookies, candy, and cokes, so campers MUST take a month?s supply of rice, pasta, flour for pancakes, canned vegetables (your only way to have vegetables) and dried beans. Then we would hope for good fishing. The country?s grocery stores, to use the term loosely, simply do not sell real food.
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We could go to New Zealand for the summer or is it winter (anyway, the trout season). The supposed way to do this is to buy a cheap car (US$3-4000), camp half the time, to be near the fish as well as save money, and do motels and restaurants the other half. Kiwis, is this reasonable?
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We cast fairly long and accurately, and wade a lot for bass, but we have little trout experience. I would hate to go to NZ for four months and catch a few small fish.
To finish, I have watched all the go-to-NZ-and-buy-a-car-and-camp-and-catch-a-thousand-big-fish videos, and they are devoid of practical information. I have read all the NZ guide Web pages I could find. They say guides are necessary. One guide said don?t believe the videos, NZ trout and waters are among the world?s toughest ? ?They don?t hook themselves.? It would be OK for a guide a couple of times, but a long-term US$600-a-day-habit is tough, whether it?s for heroin or a guide.
Whew! If you bothered reading this far, thank you.
Busbee
