What’s on your back doorstep?

Hot on the heels – or tails – of Wanaka’s two Bluenose beasts featured last month, PlaceMakers New Plymouth customer Tim ‘The Mate’ Zimmerman has come forward with an impressive entry of his own – a 4.5kg crayfish!

“I go diving as often as I can and have caught a lot of crays but this is one of the biggest I’ve ever got!” says Tim.

He and a mate were diving off Bell Block, Taranaki and Tim was 15 m deep, grabbing some smaller ones, when he saw “the big one” tucked away in a hole.

“I just went in and grabbed hold of it with two hands; it clawed onto me and I hauled it up to the boat as quick as I could,” he says. “Its claws went beyond my gloves, so I got a bit scratched up, but once it was in the boat it was fine.”

Despite the fact that he doesn’t even like seafood, Tim says it was worth the effort.

“I always give them to my mates and they said this one was really good,” he says. “I just love diving.”

Maybe that’s how he got his nickname ‘The Mate’!