Dig not very deep with Dave Dobbyn and you find he has quite an affinity with the Bay of Islands and the Far North. As a kid he can remember driving up to Cape Reinga in the family's 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster, one of the early post-war GM-Holden cars which he says could barely get there.
The trip north took days and they'd arrive late.Next morning they'd tear down to 90 Mile Beach to dig for toheroa which Aunty Alice would turn into 'the best' soup and fritters.That, of course, was in the days when toheroa were allowed to be dug up. Several years ago Dave Dobbyn took his own family to Houhura Harbour to stay with friends, to fish and 'admire orca feeding on rays'.
Professionally Mr Dobbyn is a regular visitor this far north too and at Labour Weekend he is headline act for the It! Festival in Paihia. He played the Opononi Hotel about a year ago and reckoned he could have stayed a week to fish off the wharf and listen to the stories. He's played numerous times in Russell too, including in a marquee at the Duke of Marlborough on a summer tour which 'rocked' and at Urupukapuka Island. When he wasn't singing he was fishing and like Zane Grey sees the Bay of Islands as an angler's Eldorado - or maybe even a slice of fishing heaven.
"I was often out on the water fishing for haku and snapper. In the early days of the tag-and-release campaign we were invited by the Swordfish Club to go marlin fishing and I caught and tagged a 67kg stripey. What a blast! Catching a marlin is like wrestling a German Shepherd."
Leading up to his Bay of Islands' gig he's appearing with Don McGlashan for the Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour. The ecclesiastical venues couldn't be more appropriate for the high priests of New Zealand lyric and tune and although they've previously sung together at benefit concerts this is the first time they've toured together. Before they both head to Australia Dave Dobbyn will be recording some new songs and in November he's off to play London, Edinburgh and 'possibly' Dublin.
