LISTEN To The Rush

When Toni Marks casts his fishing line out into the moving waters of the remote rivers of New Zealand in search of wild trout, his attention is fixed firmly on the sounds of nature

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Early evening is Toni Marks's favourite time to stand, chest-deep, in the wintry Tongariro River with a fishing rod.

Plummeting temperatures deliver the scent of woodsmoke from neighbouring chimneys and dispatch all but the hardiest anglers from New Zealand's world-renowned trout catchment, in the central North Island. Nightfall quietens birdsong and amplifies the rush of whitewater as Toni uses his tongue to thread nylon through the eye of a hook. Then the retired psychiatrist stiffens his wrist, casts and waits for that telltale tug on his line. His strike rate is remarkably good for a man who learnt to fly fish while blind.

Mind you, he also honed his home handyman skills after losing the last vestiges of sight in his early 30s.

By the time he built his first paling fence, Toni was a qualified psychiatrist living near Wellington with a busy hospital job, a wife, a young family and a knack for playing the piano by ear. Other unseen carpentry efforts include a couple of garden sheds, a brick-columned carport and a home renovation. All required careful handling of a circular saw and a swinging nail contraption in place of a spirit level.

Music, fishing and woodwork were welcome distractions from the intensity of a profession that revolved around people who were often seriously mentally unwell. The blind psychiatrist faced patients in prison cells, in his own private practice rooms and on busy hospital wards, and was often called on to give mental health evidence in court.

Toni was nearing the end of his medical studies when he discovered his world would turn dark. The shy sixth-year student was working a little too hard on his social life when an eye surgeon brusquely broke the news.

"Look old boy, pull yourself together," the specialist admonished him. "You need to finish your studies.