There wasn't anything particularly odd about the scenic fly-fishing brochure that arrived in the mail -- except that it was promoting a luxury cruise.
Somehow that struck me as funny, and my mind's eye immediately conjured images of passengers fly-fishing from the deck of a cruise ship.
Of course, it wasn't that way at all -- the brochure was actually promoting a two-week vacation that combines a week of New Zealand fly-fishing with a weeklong voyage aboard a ship cruising the country's North and South islands.
In fact, several cruise lines now offer passengers opportunities to indulge in the sorts of sports they don't have the facilities to offer aboard ship.
You may think some of these a pretty expensive way to catch a fish for dinner or to play a round of golf but, hey, it's a cruise too! (Some even include air fare.)
Here's a sample:
* Fly-fishing devotees first spend five days at one of five New Zealand fishing lodges before boarding the 800-passenger Marco Polo for a weeklong cruise. The trip, set for April 1-16, is co-sponsored by Fly Rod & Reel magazine, the Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing (a tour operator) and Orient Lines. It includes fishing guides, workshops, clinics, presentations, and personal assistance -- both on ship and on stream -- led by more than a dozen top fly-fishing experts. Among them are Tony Hayes and Silvio Calabi, editor in chief of Fly Rod & Reel.
The fly-fishing trip, for both pros and neophytes, begins in Auckland. (According to the brochure, the Tongariro Lodge is recommended for beginners and novices.) The ship then visits Rotorua, Napier and Picton and cruises Marlborough, Milford and Dusky Sounds, ending in Christchurch. Fares from $4,475 include round-trip air fare from the West Coast of the United States. For more information, call (800) 528-6129.
* Golfers who prefer the 19th hole to be a ship's lounge can choose among several lines.
Seabourn has linked up with Wide World of Golf, a professional golf association, to offer four escorted golf packages. Base fares on Seabourn's all-suite ships include economy-class air; golf packages are additional.
Seabourn's 11-day cruise (Feb. 8-19) sails round-trip from St. Thomas ($7,950 cruise fare; $490 four-course golf add-on). Its 14-day cruise, leaving Hong Kong March 18, offers play on four courses in Asia and includes a two-night stay in Singapore ($13,710 cruise fare; $755 golf add-on).
Golfers taking part in Seabourn's April 1-14 Canary Islands cruise play on courses in Lisbon, Malaga and Gibraltar ($10,925 fare; $690 golf package). A 13-day cruise departing Barcelona Sept. 14 offers a five-course golf package including play in Cannes and on a Robert Trent Jones course in Sardinia ($13,850 fare; $675 golf add-on).
For more information, call (800) 929-4747.
* Closer to home, duffers can play along America's southeast coast during the Nantucket Clipper's eight-day cruise from Charleston, S.C., to Jacksonville (departing April 1). Clipper passengers can sample courses at Kiawah Island, Wild Dunes, Osprey Cove and St. Simons Island Club. On board, comprehensive instruction is provided by PGA pros offering one-on-one assistance and clinics for players at various levels of proficiency.
Passengers won't even have to carry their own clubs from course to course: Master Caddies transport the golf bags as the 100-passenger ship plies the Intracoastal Waterway along the area known as the Golden Strand, where more than 70 golf courses dot the coastline.
Non-golfers, meanwhile, can enjoy excursions to historic neighborhoods on the Clipper's Antebellum South itinerary. Fares from $2,350 (greens fees and transfers included). For more information, call (800) 325-0010.
* Golfers even can barge from course to course on one-week river cruises through the English countryside aboard the 12-passenger barge Actief. Sailings depart weekly from Windsor between mid-April and November offering golf at four British courses. Fares from $1,890; greens fees are additional, and run about $50 per course. For more information, call Abercrombie & Kent at (800) 426-7794.
* Still prefer your sports aboard ship? Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's new Legend of the Seas (which will debut in May) will have a full-sized outdoor 18-hole mini-golf course able to accommodate 70 players at a time.
And Norwegian Cruise Lines still offers sports enthusiasts and armchair athletes one of the widest ranges of shipboard sports cruises -- from tennis, golf, football and hockey, to baseball, basketball, volleyball and motor sports racing.
Passengers aboard next year's NCL "SuperSport" cruises will sail the Norway with winners of football, basketball, baseball and hockey championships. Players will mingle with passengers, lecture and sign autographs. Sportscaster Bob Costas will tape installments of his "Coast to Coast" radio show during the cruises, with passengers serving as his audience.
These seven-day cruises to the eastern Caribbean depart weekly from Miami; fares start at $1,329 (including air fare). For more information, call (800) 327-7030.