Clifftop Side Missions With Fishing & Adventure
If you’ve spent any time watching Scott and Mig from Fishing & Adventure, you already know they aren’t the types to take the easy road. When they clued us in on their latest side mission—pitching camp on a rugged, exposed cliff top to fish the heavy wash below—we knew it was going to be a proper Kiwi adventure.
"Do you reckon that's close enough to the edge?.... No sleep walking!"
Exposed coastlines don't offer many favours. Between the howling sea gales, crashing waves and the hard, rocky ground, it’s about as unforgiving as a campsite gets. The team needed a shelter light enough to lug down a sketchy goat track, but spacious enough to rest overnight above the Tasman Sea. We handed them the Orson Nomad 2 & the Hopper 2 to strike the perfect balance of lightweight, compact size & comfort.
Setting Up on the Edge
Finding a flat, peg-friendly spot on a sheer cliff face is next to impossible. That’s where the Nomad 2’s freestanding dome design came into its own. The boys easily slotted the 8.5mm aluminium poles together to create a rigid, self-supporting structure that sat firmly on the ledge.
"I must admit, I haven't put a lot of tents up in my life because they normally stress me out, but this is actually really easy." – Scott
Simple pitching and stability is exactly what the Nomad was engineered for. It features extra fabric built higher up the inner walls specifically to block out those freezing coastal drafts, paired with a tough PU4000mm Ripstop fly to help shed any rainfall. Underneath, the heavy-duty 150D Oxford floor boasts a massive PU10,000mm waterproof rating, keeping the damp ground moisture at bay. And at just 2.75kg, it was a very manageable load to carry down the narrow track on the hike in with an abundance of fishing gear.
Dropping into the Wash
With basecamp secure, the boys attention to fishing from the ledge high above the swell below. Fishing the wash is a high-adrenaline activity - you’re minding your footing near the edge, trying to position your bait in the perfect location, then trying to stop big snapper from burying you in the kelp, or worse, pulling you towards the cliff edge.
The action didn’t disappoint. Although it was a slow evening bite resulting in some unpopular protein-lacking, Mi Goreng Noodle wraps for dinner, the morning provided a steady flow of snapper with a few exceeding the local legal size limit, as well as a tasty gurnard, aptly nicknamed the carrot of the sea.
With Scott on cooking duties, one snapper was promptly wrapped in tin foil and cooked over the fire to sustain the crew's energy through the rest of the mission. Asked how he would describe the cooked fish, Mig's response pulled no punches - "Dry."
"We did forget about it" Scott said. "That's standard in Scott's kitchen!"
The Final Verdict
A cliff top might be a harsh place to spend the night, especially with the thunder of crashing waves below you, but if you’ve got the right mindset and a tent you can trust, it’s certain to be a memorable night.
Planning your own weekend mission? Check out the Orson Nomad 2 and push your comfort zone.
