The Marlborough Sounds area, which lies at the north-east tip of the South
Island, is an intricate maze of drowned river valleys with 1,400 kilometres
of coastline and waterways. It has dozens of reserves (both on land and at
sea) and a wealth of opportunities for kayaking, boating, fishing, diving
and tramping.
The landmass of the sounds is the half-submerged remains of a once mighty
mountain chain that ran into the North Island, shattered and started sinking.
The area is still sinking and the highest peaks are now only 1,000 to 1,200
metres above sea level. The little flat land that exists is mostly sandy
coastal strips or where streams and rivers have built up sediments.
The two major waterways are the Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Sounds (52 and 49
kilometres in length respectively) with a multitude of bays, inlets and
islands. Captain Cook, who spent over three months in the area in the 1770s,
named Queen Charlotte Sound after King George III's wife. Motuara Island
(now a reserve) in the outer part of the sound is where Cook raised the
British flag in 1770, proclaiming British sovereignty over the South Island,
blithely ignoring the presence of the Maori people and the fact that they
had already been here for hundreds of years.
Maori called Pelorus Sound 'Te Hoiere' and Queen Charlotte 'Totaranui' and
have two creation myths for the area. One is that it is the smashed remains
of the carved prow of a canoe that became the South Island. The other is that
Kupe (the famed navigator and explorer) battled here with a giant octopus
whose writhing tentacles pulled and gouged the land into the shape it holds
today.
Much of the land has been logged and is now farmland or forestry, but DOC
administers a patchwork of around 50,000 hectares of reserves with
regenerating bush and some large areas of untouched beech/podocarp
forest (eg. Matai Bay, pictured). There are also several restricted
islands which are important refuges for endangered wildlife such as
tuatara (the sole remaining representative of an ancient order of reptiles)
and kakapo (nocturnal ground parrot).
The town of Picton, near the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound,
is where the Cook Strait ferries to and from Wellington dock and
consequently has a higher than average concentration of restaurants,
accomodation and tourism operators. Havelock, at the head of the Pelorus
Sound, is similar but quieter. There are a great many lodges, backpackers'
hostels and campsites thoughout the sounds, many accessible only by sea,
and a number of companies which run boating, fishing, diving, kayaking and
tramping options.
The two most popular walks are the 67 kilometre Queen Charlotte track,
which runs spectacularly along a ridgeline for much of its length, and
the 23 kilometre Nydia track on Pelorus Sound. Both of these have a mix
of camping or privately operated lodge accomodation.
It's also possible to spend days or even weeks kayaking around the sounds.
The inner sounds area is comparatively sheltered from the open ocean of Cook
Strait (though subject to strong localised winds), while the outer sounds
are wilder in both weather and sea and bird-life.
In late December 2001 we rented a couple of kayaks from Neil in Elaine Bay,
Tennyson Inlet and spent 4 days kayaking around the area. Tennyson Inlet is
off the Pelorus Sound and has large areas of unlogged forest.
Neil rented us the kayaks, lifejackets and pump and provided invaluable local
knowledge about campsites, conditions and winds so strong that it was tough
just lifting a paddle against them.
As the weather forecast wasn't great and it was grey and threatening to
rain, we decided to stay in the inner sounds and camp at Tawa Bay, an hour
or two's paddle from Elaine Bay. When we got there the DOC site was occupied,
so we set up in a nice sheltered position in the middle of the beach. The
forest there is superb. The beachfront is fringed with flax and ngaio, with
groves of tall kawakawa behind and then giant matai, miro and kahikatea,
turning to beech forest on the hills.
The dawn chorus was beautiful, and we saw many tui and bellbirds on the
flax flowers, though investigation of bellbirds calling in alarm revealed
a stoat busily hunting its breakfast. There were also many stingrays
(some quite large) gliding through the clear waters of the bay. We kayaked
north along the coast into a rising chop and headwind until a mussel farm
provided a convenient place for lunch and a turn around. Coming back into
Tawa Bay we encountered the fearsome wind gusts that Neil had predicted.
It's easy to see them coming over the water and they don't last for long
but really have to be experienced to be believed.
On our third day we paddled south to Matai Bay, a place of such wild beauty
that words fail and photos are inadequate. It has a DOC hut that you can
only get to by sea. The hut key can be picked up from DOC or various locals.
After exploring Matai Bay we paddled round to the bay that shelters World's
End, another campsite in beautiful bush, but as the wind was picking up we
decided to head back before the going got too tough and returned to Tawa Bay.
On our last day we were visited by a weka which peered inside our tents
and checked out our gear. I was delighted as we don't get them in the
North Island much and it was my first close encounter.
We packed up our wet tents and kayaked across past the island reserves in
the middle of Tennyson Inlet to Sheep Point (gotta love that name) and back
down to Elaine Bay. We'd seen very few kayakers - most arrived late and
departed early, and only a couple of boats. I'll definitely be back.
