Steve and Cathy's Blog

We are still at sea when we awaken and observe yet another beautiful sunrise. And we never tire of taking pictures of them:

We are due in Picton at 10:00am, but we are still at sea at 7:00 when we take these photos.  In another hour, we begin sailing up Queen Charlotte Sound, one of the four Marlborough Sounds in the northeast corner of the South Island.  Picton is at the head of this 14-mile sound, and our journey is filled with astounding scenery on both sides.

Our excursion, Queen Charlotte Sounds Round the Bays, begins at 10:45.  As we disembark, some ladies from the Picton Tourist Board hand us adorable little corsages and pins as a welcoming gesture.

The small town of Picton only has 4,360 residents, and the downtown area is very easy to find our way around, but we board a bus for the five-minute ride to the marina where our catamaran, the family-owned Beachcomber Cruises catamaran Mantua, is docked.  We are greeted warmly by two young ladies and board.

The boat has two decks, and we head for the top deck.  We sit in the stern in order to have the best photo opportunities, and soon we are underway. Unfortunately, the engine noise pretty much drowns out the narration from the captain, but our goal was to see the scenery, so we stay put.

On our way out of the harbor, we see one of the gigantic ferries that connect the North and South Islands.  Picton is the northern terminus of the South Island, chosen because Queen Charlotte Bay is calm while Cook Strait, the body of water between the two islands, is anything but much of the time.

Wikipedia describes the ferry service this way: “Regular ferry services run between Picton in the Marlborough Sounds and Wellington, operated by KiwiRail (the Interislander) and Strait Shipping (Bluebridge). Both companies run services several times a day. Roughly half the crossing is in the strait, and the remainder within the Sounds. The journey covers 70 kilometres (43 mi) and takes about three hours. The strait often experiences rough water and heavy swells from strong winds, especially from the south. New Zealand’s position directly athwart the roaring forties means that the strait funnels westerly winds and deflects them into northerlies. As a result, ferry sailings are often disrupted and Cook Strait is regarded as one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world. On 10 April 1968, the TEV Wahine, a Wellington–Lytteltonferry of the Union Company, foundered at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and capsized. Of the 610 passengers and 123 crew on board, 53 died.”

As we head northeast from Picton, we see the scenery pretty much as Captain Cook did when he arrived here in 1770.  We maneuver in and out of small bays on both sides of the sound, past occasional cottages and homes, some of which can only be reached by boat.  The forest is so dense and the hills so steep that we wonder how it was possible to build these houses.  Cathy inquires about this and a crewmember says that most of the houses are connected by a road, a road we never can locate.  She also asks about the strange sight of dead trees interspersed in the dense deciduous forests.  She is told that these are Monterey Pines, the same species of tree that dominate the lumber industry in New Zealand.  In these areas, however, they are considered invasive, so they have been killing them by putting prison on the roots, a controversial practice to be sure.

Besides looking at amazing scenery, we hope to encounter some of the animals that inhabit the sound: dolphins, seals, penguins, and many species of fish and birds.  About an hour into the trip, the boat stops in a small cove and bread is given out for us to toss into the water to draw fish. Eventually we do see some, but most of the bread is snatched up by seagulls, so we have to content ourselves by photographing them.

After a while we move on. Our captain spots a seal or two, but these creatures aren’t in the mood to entertain us and disappear into the water. He spots a few dolphins, and we do get a brief opportunity to watch and photograph them.  But that’s the way it is with these wildlife searches. Sometimes you luck out; sometimes you don’t.

We cruise for better than two hours in beautiful, picture-perfect weather, so photographs will suffice to describe the rest of our boat ride.

As we come back into port, we now see two of the gigantic ferries berthed right next to our ship. This picture gives a good idea of just how large they are.  In a few minutes, we dock.  Before we disembark, the crew explains how easy it is to walk back to our ship.  The town very cleverly painted a blue line in the sidewalk that leads from the downtown area all the way back to the cruise ship terminal.

So we have already decided to have lunch in town, and the adorable Oxley Hotel looks very inviting, especially when we see a couple seated at an outdoor table dining on fish and chips.  Perfect! So we do just that.  Of course, Cathy is delighted to see that she can start with some raw oysters.

The lunch we have is the perfect ending to our time in Picton.  We follow the blue line back to the ship and board around 3pm.

Our visit to wonderful, beautiful New Zealand ends at 6:00pm as Insignia heads up Queen Charlotte Sound to begin its 1,432 nautical mile journey to our next port of call..  What a fabulous country we have been to. We are adding it to the expanding list of places to come back to! For the next two days, New Zealand will be off our port side as we head north toward the island nation of Tonga.