What does it take to get big Bluff oysters on to the plate?
When you think about a New Zealand delicacy, it's hard to go past a plump Bluff oyster.
Whether eagerly plucked straight from the pottle or freshly shucked and served with champagne, bluffies are in high demand across the motu from March to August.
It was an early start for skipper Greg Mead, who leaves the Bluff wharf about 4am in the morning and headed into the Foveaux Strait.
The volatile stretch of water was not for the faint-hearted, but he was used to it and Rakiura protected them from the worst of the large, rolling souwesterly swell.
A boat dredges for Bluff oysters.
Tony Smith
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"You definitely get some rough days out there. Those days aren't so nice, a bit of wind and waves and things like that," he said.
"But the good, nice flat days make up for it and you enjoy your job a lot more when it's nice and calm, that's for sure."
It took about an hour-and-a-half to get to the oyster grounds and then he and his staff of four hit the ground running, getting their dredges in the water and towing them along the sea floor.
Boats sit at the wharf in Bluff.
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They pull up about four times an hour with his crew sorting through to find oysters that live in the sand and gravel 35 to 40 metres below.
He works for Marina Fish & Oysters, the family business.
Fishing and oysters have been in their blood for about five generations.
"It's pretty cool to be involved in a generational family business. Everyone in the family's pretty passionate about it and cares about the fishery so yeah, we want to look after it the best we can and keep it going for generations to come," he said.
The days were long, usually not returning to shore until 1-3pm, and they felt longer when days were darker and winter began to bite.
The first month of the season always amazed him - they could never keep up with demand regardless of what the season was like.
He preferred his bluffies cooked - crumbed, kilpatrick or battered from a fish and chip shop, but said it took a lot of mahi behind the scenes to get them on the plate.
Marina Fish & Oysters skipper Greg Mead says they can never keep up with the demand during the first month, regardless of what the season is like.
Tony Smith
"It's not only the boats that do the hard work to get them onto the plate. Once they're unloaded, they go into the factory and they're all opened by hand and then there's packers in the factory that are individually counting them and pottling them and then you've got the freight companies," he said.
"There's quite a lot of sets of hands touch an oyster before it gets to the public."
Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters manager Graeme Wright said the last few years haven't been too kind to the industry, battling some difficult weather and a drop in quality.
But this season was off to a better start and the future was looking bright, he said.
"Definitely seeing lots and lots of little juvenile oysters this year. In actual fact, we're even seeing oysters still even spawning, which is we don't normally see at this time of the year," he said.
He looked for a good, plump Bluffie - not necessarily the biggest - with a crisp, clean, salty blast.
While he liked his oysters straight from the source, he wasn't too fussy.
"To be on the boat and have it straight from the sea is definitely priority but at the end of the day, I'm happy any way. I'll take kilpatrick or deep fried or crumbed," Wright said.
Thousands of people are expected to pay homage to the salty taonga during the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival in May.
