Clarke ’s fatherhood lessons WHAT NEVE IS TEACHING ME

He’s been called everything from New Zealand’s “first bloke” to the nation’s “first man of fishing”, so it should come as no surprise that Clarke Gayford’s love of the ocean has rubbed off on his three-year-old daughter Neve.

“I was driving Neve home from daycare recently,” says Clarke. “And out of the blue, from the back seat, came a little voice that said, ‘Dad, can you take me fishing?’ It was completely unprompted and I was like, ‘Absolutely, we can make that happen!’”

But as the was going to print, the country was put in level 4 lockdown, so their plans will need to wait – not that he minds. Clarke and his family are now in Wellington, where he says he “is back to my most important job of looking after Neve”.