Pelorus Mail Boat

The ‘World Famous’ Pelorus Mail Run leaves from the Havelock Marina three days a week delivering mail & supplies to isolated residents around Pelorus Sound. There are three different routes, we chose the eastern route as we’d already seen some of the coastline & settlements on the western side & outer reaches of the Sound including that far away settlement of Bulwer.

We left the marina at 9:30am, the weather forecast was for fine weather although rain was expected late afternoon but hopefully we’d be well home by then.

Along with us & three foreign couples, a group of men & women from the Blenheim Probus group joined the boat too. The thought did cross my mind when I saw them boarding that at least we’d have the top deck to ourselves- (naughty, Shellie!). But in fact a few of them did manage to climb the ladder and enjoy the scenery although some had to be helped back down by my own knight in shining armour.

The history of the Mail Run-

Mail was first delivered to the Marlborough Sounds by Government Steamer in 1912.  The Steamer put the mail ashore at various small Post Offices throughout the area and the residents had to row to these points to pick their mail up. In 1925 the Government decided to put the Service out to Private Operators and the Mail Run, as it is done today, was born. In the early years most of the goods carried were farming supplies and a few tourists.  These days farm supplies are still carried along with residents who are transported to and from their homes. And in summer, people are dropped at their holiday homes or some of the unique holiday accommodation available around Pelorus Sound.

Some bays have just one family others have a few families, many had dogs who were just as eager to greet the boat as their masters.

We met quite a number of the well known Sound characters along the way including one of the men originally involved in establishing the mussel farming industry. That’s him in the white gumboots; he doesn’t have a jetty (better things to spend his money on?) and must wade out to steady the bow of the boat while the mail bag is handed over. I’m sure his gumboots would get swamped on a rough day. One new resident in the Sounds was the guy in the middle left photo, the boat had to toot a few times to alert him to our presence. The boat does have a time schedule & everyone else was either waiting at the end of the jetty or approaching it as we cruised in.

These two dogs were especially keen to greet the boat, they know that Penny (first mate) has a treat for them; dog biscuits. Their master has a business repairing mussel floats, an ideal home based business in these parts!

David enjoying the sunshine & the cruise.

There were plenty of fabulous house sites along the way and a few stunning homes including this one. It belongs to two French chefs who fly in each summer for a short break in the Sounds; the screens on the front slide back to reveal floor to ceiling windows. Each module was flown in by helicopter during building so as not to disturb the environment. We forgot to ask how they got there as there was no visible road, or a jetty, maybe they get dropped in by helicopter too.

We passed a few other boats along the way; a mussel harvesting boat heading back to the farms and two barges, one carting logs from a forestry block and the other heading to Havelock with salmon (blue bins) from the only salmon farm in the Sounds (which just happen to be in the same bay as Bulwer and we’d seen from land the other day)

We took a detour through a mussel farm and learnt a lot about the industry from Jim our skipper (and owner of the Mail Boat) Jim is very, very knowledgeable about anything to do with the Sounds and we enjoyed his commentary as we cruised past various points of interest. On the right is the ‘hairy rope’ which the mussel seed attaches itself to, and the sock that encloses it which helps the seed stay in place while it gets established.  

A bonus of having the Probus group on board was that we stopped for lunch at Te Rawa Resort, a lodge & restaurant in the Sound which is not usually on this particular route. We had our lunch with us so while the group went inside for theirs, we sat on the deck with the other tourists and had a pleasant half hour eating & chatting. Jim told us as when we were leaving that unfortunately the farm that the lodge is located on isn’t doing so well. In its heyday it used to have something like 16,000 sheep but is now down to about 1500, without money & manpower the native scrub is quickly taking over the pasture land. And we can see this on the peninsula as we pull away from the bay (centre).

Our next stop is at the head of Beatrix Bay, the furthest north we travel on this trip. There’s no one waiting here for us, I think they’re either camera shy or out on the farm working. Their empty mail bag it attached to the jetty where Penny exchanges it for a full one.

We head off towards Crail Bay where the last of our mail deliveries are……

….stopping near a small gannet colony on the way with many of the birds busy courting & nest building.

But there’s one ‘odd man out’, a large fluffy chick holding centre court. It was the only chick in the colony and one that has hatched way too early because as far as we could see, when birds moved or flew away, there weren’t even any eggs laid yet.

Another thing that stood out was the amount of rope in the nests, long single strands, knotted & matted pieces, red, blue and brown pieces. At least it’s no longer floating around in the ocean but I wonder whether the chicks might get tangled in it occasionally. In the bottom right photo you can see a gannet has brought home a gift for its mate, it flew past us as we arrived, with the clump of seaweed covering its face.

Approaching Crail Bay jetty with residents ready and waiting, one had obviously cycled to the jetty as he had his bike with him. This stop is deep in the Sound and the furthest from Havelock we do on this route before we turn around and head back out to the main channel. And in fact Crail Bay is just over the ‘hill’, as the crow flies, from where we are at the moment at Kenepuru Head.

One of the foreign couples on board were very keen to see dolphins, as were most of us, but this particular couple especially so, it was on their NZ wish list. There had been a false alarm earlier in the trip and when Jim told us that they’d seen all three species of dolphins on the last trip those of us up on the top deck kept scanning the horizon. It took awhile & it wasn’t until after our last mail drop that dolphins were finally spotted. By yours truly! Way off in the distance and back behind us. I thought I could see some birds diving and a tiny fin or two but didn’t want to shout ‘wolf’ without being totally sure. The foreign guy was having none of that, he raced downstairs as fast as he could to let them know and before he made it back up top we had turned around and were steaming towards a massive ‘boil up’.

Gannets & sooty shearwaters floated on the surface or dive bombed into the centre of a huge ‘meat ball’ of tiny fish.

Common & dusky dolphins were rounding up the fish, tail slapping the surface and speeding around the edge and underneath herding them into a big ball. The fish in a panic swarmed this way and that way, down and back up. And there in amongst the feeding frenzy was one very happy seal (top left)

As spectators to this amazing event, we had the perfect view. The boat became a floating island and the fish tried to hide underneath but the dolphins pushed them through and out the other side where the fish would quickly turn and swim back under. The pursuit was relentless, the dolphins formed a line to chase break away schools of fish back into the ball.

There weren’t many chances to shoot close-ups or jumping dolphins today, they barely broke the surface for air before disappearing into the depths once again. These ones are Common Dolphins; their beaks are longer than the Dusky and they have solid white flanks where as the dusky has two dashes of white down their sides. I wonder how this dolphin lost the tip of its dorsal fin, it didn’t seem to slow it down at all.

The seal had the best deal & he was making the most of it. No team work for him, he floated around in the background and then dived through the middle of the fish scattering them in all directions whenever he felt the urge to grab a few.

A gannet comes up trumps and Mr Seal does a few backward flips in celebration!

And then, obviously with a full belly, floats past with the look of pure bliss on his face!

What a thrill and an incredible experience we had, even Jim the skipper said he’d never seen anything quite like this before. We could have quite happily stayed and watched for longer but after half an hour it was time to move on. The boat was running to a schedule and we were now running late for our last stop, collecting a resident  and her cute foxy to deliver back to the marina. This lady who has lived in the Sound for many years supplements her income by possum trapping. It looked like her little dog had come off second best & lost her eye to one of them at some stage.

We arrived back at the marina just after 5pm after a very long day on the water and just before the rain arrived. We had an amazing time, and saw some wonderful sights. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and visiting a part of the Marlborough Sounds that not a lot of people get to see. I would highly recommend the Pelorus Mail Run if you’re looking for something a little bit different to experience. If you’re a member of NZMCA ask about their generous discounts, especially during the winter season.

Starry, Starry Night

I'm not sure when my next post will be after this one, we're leaving for Kenepuru Head today where I'm sure internet & cell phone reception will be limited.

You’ll recall that after shooting the blood moon the other evening I said I didn't get to bed until 2am because I was having too much fun light painting & shooting some long exposure shots. Well here are some of the captures.

These were all taken just after 1am, the eclipse hadn't quite finished and it was still very dark outside except for a  brilliant Milky Way.

This first shot is done by light painting. The exposure time was 30 seconds but what you can’t see is the mad woman racing up to the vehicles and waving her head torch (now in my hand) from one end to the other ‘painting’ the vehicles with the light & then running back to the tripod and out of the frame before the shutter closes.

It’s a bit hard to explain but because I’m moving about behind the light my figure doesn't appear in the shot, just the light that’s been painted on the subject. Stay too long on a spot with the light and it over-exposes, move too quickly with the light sweeps and parts of the vehicles remain dark or look patchy. And if I stop too long in one place, a ghostly figure appears in the frame. And you must switch the light off as quick as you can when you've finished otherwise the grass and track get light painted too.  It’s pretty cool seeing the results and I must have done at least two dozen shots with varying degrees of success. I was worn out from all the running back & forward & in the end I was worried David would wake up and wonder why there was bright torch light sweeping over the van. Luckily he slept on.

The next one is a long exposure shot of the wharf (15sec), the lights have blown out a little but I still like the effect.

This one is 25 seconds and the moon is starting to re-appear lighting up the sky a little more. The one tiny light on inside the van has saturated the interior with light.

And one final one of the jetty at 15 seconds. I think I need to play a little more to perfect the techniques but I had a great time practicing.

And now for some final shots from around Elaine Bay-

Another walk we did was to Piwakawaka (Fantail) Bay, it was a lovely walk around the edge of the water for about 2kms until we reached the secluded little Piwakwaka Bay. We ate our lunch sitting on the bank in front of a private bach with an amazing view.

There are lots of baches (holiday homes) located in the Sounds that have boat access only.

Elaine Bay captures- David going fishing, an old bus going nowhere, wharf & homestead, letterboxes and the very photogenic jetty at low tide.

And a couple more shots of the jetty-

Our Elaine Bay neighbours who arrived a few days after us and scored the best view down the bay. It took a few seconds for us to realize we’d met this couple once before, in Dunedin, in the pouring rain. They are from Whangarei and know my sister & husband and her in-laws quite well. It was great to meet up with you again Guy & Jual and no doubt our paths will cross again ‘Out There’ on the road. Guy managed to sweet talk a skipper down at the wharf and came home with a bucket of mussels that he shared with us. We had a ‘happy hour’ mussel cook off that lasted a lot longer than an hour. Of course.

And one final shot of us hitched up and ready to roll. We had an amazing time in Elaine Bay and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the peace and quiet and exploring the bays in the boat. We also had brilliant weather (except for the two bouts of gale force wind), summer is definitely on the way.

We've now been parked up in Havelock for a few nights to re-fuel, refresh, re-stock, & dump tanks before carrying on up the Kenepuru arm of the Marlborough Sounds.

Bulwer… Bul–where?

Our next road trip was to Bulwer. You will recall that on the multiple sign post at the turn off to this arm of the Marlborough Sounds, there was a pointer for Bulwer, a place I had never heard of before & one I wanted to visit as it was right at the end of the road,  80kms away. Camped at Elaine Bay, we were already half way there but 40kms on a gravel winding road will still feel like eighty.

We climbed back up to the top of Elaine Bay Road and turned onto the ‘main’ road heading once again towards French Pass. David kindly pulled over to let a truck carrying a digger past, he repaid us with a view full of dust for the next 10kms! We pulled back to let him get ahead but with not a breath of wind the dust hung in the air.

Next right Bulwer, 30kms…..

The lambs are fattening up at a fast rate around here, Christmas must be getting close. Although David tells me he heard on the radio the other day that they don’t dock Christmas lambs, too much stress toughens the meat. So it may be that this chubby chap has a little longer to enjoy the green pastures overlooking Pelorus Sound.

We wind our way down the side of the ridge for a couple of kilometres before we come to another road junction, Bulwer to the left this time but we take a short detour to check out Cissy Bay & Te Towaka.

I walk to the edge of the road on the left to check out the view and what a fabulous view it is. This is Admiralty Bay looking north towards the outer sounds and Cook Strait. D’Urville Island is the far distant finger of land on the left (with a smaller island in front of it). French Pass a good distance around the middle point on the left and we are heading to and over the far point on the right. Once again there are dozens of rows mussel floats filling every bay in both directions.

We drive down towards Te Towaka to find out that it's the farm we saw the other day from high up on the ridge on our way to French Pass. It's tucked into a beautiful deep cove with a private jetty. The road down to Te Towaka is private but we take another branch to Sissy Bay on the otherside of the bay where there were a number of holiday homes and permanent residents including one with a sense of humour.

Back up on the Bulwer Road we stop often to check out the scenery, the road is gravel, narrow & winding and we seem to be the only one travelling today. Not a soul in sight in all directions (and in fact we see no one on the way in and just 3 cars on our way back out). We can see the road following the contour of the hills along the coastline for miles ahead of us.

D’Urville Island fills the horizon.

The road drops down to sea level for a short distance in a little bay and tucked up beneath the bush are these wonderful little fishing huts. The dark green hut has a 'Kozy Nook' name plate on the wall outside.

We push on and it’s about now that David wonders whether it’s worth continuing on, the views are spectacular when we break out of the bush and pine forests, but the road is getting narrower and the twists and turns are starting to become a pain…..in the bum. I tell him we’ve come this far we can’t turn around now but we've only covered about a third of the road. This is looking back the way we've come, you can see the road running along the hill on the other side of the bay.

There’s a stain of dirty water on the shoreline of this farm ahead of us which means there must be muddy water entering the bay from the farmland behind and as we move further along the road I see that there are thousands of arum lilies blanketing the slope down to the farm buildings. Arum lilies love damp ground and there are a few water tanks buried amongst them so I think perhaps there’s a fresh water spring located under there somewhere.

My sister Gaelyn, would love to get in amongst these lilies! Arums are her favourites, many years ago she had trouble locating enough arums for her wedding bouquet. She found a couple of plants on a farm near the main road and after asking permission to pick them, kept a wary eye on the flower spikes hoping they wouldn’t bloom before her big day. In the end she was able to pick a precious few, just enough for her bouquet.

The road starts to wind higher & higher & disappears into bush again, we start to wonder whether we’ll ever get to the end.

At last we can see we’re nearing the end of the ridge, the view is magnificent, tiny cabbage trees dot the slope out in front of us and off in the distance we can see the stock yards of Port Ligar farm where we’re heading. The islands in the centre are the Trio Islands, the ones to the left protect the top end of D’Urville Island.

I zoomed in on the cabbage tree slope, this should give the shot above a bit of perspective; it was a long way down to the water.

The road is now little more than a farm track and we stop near the stock yards. It’s no wonder the sign way back at the beginning of the road says ‘Port Ligar – No Beach Access’, you’d feel pretty cheated driving all this way to check out the port and then finding out that there isn’t one. Port Ligar is a farm and although the bay we’re about to see on the other side of the ridge is also called Port Ligar, it’s surrounded by private farm land.

Looking out to the right of the ute we can now see French Pass clearly across the bay and the tiny township tucked beneath the dark green pine forest with a shallow crescent of golden sand showing where the beach is.

In front of us is another cattle stop, we must have crossed at least a dozen on the way in but this one takes the cake! I’m not sure what all the string, rope, old mudguard and other bits of plastic are doing nailed to the side frames but it sure looks like an abomination. Add to that the right hand metal cross bar has a nasty sharp end to it that has broken loose and is pointing upwards. I wonder how many tyres that has shredded on the way out.

Before we move on I climb the fence and walk along a track around the edge of the hill where this amazing sight comes into view, this is looking towards the top of  Pelorus Sound. This is Port Ligar with Homestead Bay in the foreground. The large bit of land in the centre that looks like an island is part of Port Ligar Farm and is actually joined to the tip of the point of land that we’re on.

Below us we see a dirt road winding down to the water and a homestead, at first we think that it must be Bulwer but it’s not until we drive on, that we realise the Bulwer road carries on winding it’s way along the ridge and over the two promontories on the right. The road we see is a private road down to Waterfall Bay Lodge which has cottage accommodation along with rooms in the lodge. What an amazing, secluded and remote area of the Sounds to stay at.

We carry on across the cattle stop, Bulwer can’t be too far now. Mr TomTom says 6kms which again feels like double that with all the winding up and down and around, we feel like we’re heading back up the finger on the eastern side. We can now see Homestead Bay and the lodge from the other side and the thin isthmus that joins the large ‘island’ to the mainland on Port Ligar farm.

Finally we pass a sign advising us that we’re now entering Bulwer Scenic Reserve, it’s now about 2pm and we haven’t stopped for lunch along the way in the hope that we’d get to Bulwer and be able to have it on the beach.

For the next 2kms we herd this family of sheep (including the black sheep of the family) down the road, they try running up the bank but then come crashing down in front of us and they refuse to run off the other edge when there are a few gaps. I tell David to slow down even more and then stop as they tire, hoping they’ll make their way over the edge without the pressure but no, no matter how long we leave it we find them ahead of us again. Finally as we break out of the bush they take a flying leap over the side and head off towards a collection of houses in the bay below.

And there below us is Bulwer and by the look of the road end, cattle stop and signs it’s a private farm too, which will explain the sheep in the reserve. Bloody hell! All that way and we can’t get down there.  David’s reserved English nature (yeah right) tells him he can’t intrude and we must turn around.  I tell him we’re not coming all this way and not going down there. Plus I’m starving and I certainly don’t want to drive all the way back up to the top to have lunch. I can see a couple of people wandering about so I tell him I’ll ask if we can have our lunch on the water’s edge. He’s very reluctant but we drive on.

We stop near a woman walking up towards a house with a large sheep walking alongside her. I get out and for my troubles the huge wether sheep head butts me in the bum. ‘Lucky’ doesn't like me interrupting his walk.  I explain to the lady that we were hoping for a reserve at the end of the road where we could have had lunch and were surprised to find that Bulwer ended in their farm.

She says no problems, drive on down to the beach and you’re quite welcome to have lunch at the ‘Cigar Hut’, just watch out for the farmyard animals they may make a nuisance of themselves, as she slaps the sheep on the nose just as he lines me up for another head butt. This farm also has some motel units, 'Cedarview Cottages' and guests obviously use the hut for happy hour drinks. We move the picnic table out into the sun and make ourselves at home.

There are some old boats moored out in the bay and in dry dock on the beach, there’s old sheds and old houses and a few baches in the settlement too. A small runabout arrives at the wharf with guests for the motel. The farmer is a little shy, he’s working in the shed (old house) near where we’ve parked. He tells David that his grandfather jumped ship when he was young and swum ashore and claimed the bay as his own. And the family have farmed it ever since. He had lived there all his life (about 65 years I’m guessing). It's a 2 hour drive to the main road and then another hour to Nelson if they want to visit the 'big smoke' although I suspect he hasn't left the farm in years.

This was the shed the farmer was working in, as it turned out it was his grandparents home and up behind that was his parent's family home (now rented out) and off to the side and towards the back of the settlement was his family home. By the look of it, the jeep must have belonged to the grandparents! The old cargo shed would have been used to store wool & other farm products, waiting for the coastal shipping boats to come and collect from the wharf.

We finished our lunch and thanked the farmer for his hospitality (his wife had disappeared along with 'Lucky'). After another interesting road trip it was time to turn tail and head for home…