Kenepuru Head, Marlborough Sounds

We’re now parked up at the DOC Kenepuru Head camping ground and have been here for the last few days. The weather has once again been spectacular, deep blue skies and hot sunny days and just one with a little rain. The forecast is good & we’ve decided to stay put over the coming holiday weekend when other camping spots around the Sounds & closer to Queen Charlotte Drive will be busy with holidaying families marking the beginning of summer.

The turn off to Kenepuru Sound is at Linkwater and has the now familiar sign board with all the relevant information needed before heading deep into the Sounds. It seemed rather odd that there isn’t a more inviting entrance to Kenepuru (and in fact the same for Pelorus). Personally I think the District Council could have made an extra effort here as a lot of tourists visit these areas. Still, there’s nothing quite like a smelly dairy farm to tell you you’re in NZ, & in the countryside, and life still does go on around these beautiful areas. The dairy shed was across the road from the sign board and a mucky race ran alongside both sides of the road.

I can’t post any photos of Kenepuru Sound as we travelled along the eastern side to the Head. That’s because there was absolutely no views of the water except a few peeks and glimpses here and there. The bush grew high on both sides of the road and other than letterboxes marking hidden driveways, houses with their magnificent water views, were hidden too.

Aside from the bush hiding the views, the road, all 45kms of it, was very, very winding and extremely narrow in places and took all David’s concentration. He couldn’t have stopped even if I had wanted him too. Back & forward we wound, out of one corner & into the next without a break. I told David I need a counter so I can keep a tally. I’m sure there must have been at least 100 bends for every 1km. I won’t tell you what he said but suffice to say he didn’t want two lots of clicking distracting him!

Our first chance to pull over was at Portage, 30 kms from the turnoff where we took the opportunity of having lunch sitting on the water’s edge overlooking a small bay and a big marina (although we did stop with our hazard lights on at Cowshed Bay to check out the DOC camp there- it was quite small & surrounded by bush).

Portage was little more than the Portage Resort and a few houses, nothing like I was expecting. I assume it’s a busy place in the summer when there are many people holidaying in the area & walking the Queen Charlotte Track which runs right along the ridge line which separates Kenepuru & Queen Charlotte Sounds. It’s also a low point in the range at Portage and you can drive over the top to Torea Bay which is on Queen Charlotte Sound. Water Taxis transporting walkers & visitors come and go from Torea Bay too.

Another 15kms further on and we finally reached Kenepuru Head and the DOC campground which has recently been upgraded. It now has flushing loos & cold showers. The grounds have been landscaped a little and separation ‘fingers’ planted so it’s a little more organised. It’s a large site and there’s another open space through the bush if the main side ever got overloaded. Although I can’t see that ever happening, it’s not like this is a good fishing spot or there’s lot’s to do locally. It’s just a lovely peaceful area to park up for awhile and enjoy the wildlife.

There were two other motorhomes here the first night we arrived, they left the next day and we’ve had the place to ourselves for the last four nights. Today two more motorhomes have arrived. How dare they! And I’m sure there will be more over the weekend.

The reason why it’s not good fishing is because we’re right at the head of the Sound and when the tide is out there’s a huge expanse of mud which runs from one side to the other and down the bay for a few hundred metres or so. No good for the dinghy even when the tide is in, David would manage to wheel it down to the water, climb in and before he knew it the water would be gone. The tide moves very fast around here. I think he needs a spear, I’m sure there would be flounder out there, but then I guess he’d get bogged down in the mud. This is the view (at high tide) out our kitchen window from the back of the van.

The birdlife around us is incredible, with the mudflats on one side & bush surrounding us there’s plenty to watch & listen to, especially the Bellbirds (Korimako). There are dozens of them. At high tide this Kingfisher (Kotare) & her fledgling chick sit in the tree outside our back window diving down into the water below. They are very wary and fly as soon as we open the door. I managed to take these through the tinted back window.

Kingfisher Fledgling 

I was up at 6am a few mornings ago, the dawn chorus was deafening and I thought I must record it on my phone. I recorded about a minute of it out the front on the grass before I moved towards the back of the van to check out the mudflats. I don’t know who was more startled but just as I got to the rear a flash of red caught my attention and a huge wild red deer took off past me galloping along the edge of the mud (do deer gallop?) heading back towards the head of the bay. It disappeared behind a few bushes further along the bank and around a slight corner. By the time I scrambled down the bank (in my fluffy dressing gown & crocs) and out far enough to see around the corner it had gone.

I picked up it’s tracks in the mud and thought I’d come back with my camera later to take a photo of the size of the print. It was HUGE and also the speed of the run as the back hoof print was right up there behind the front one. Unfortunately the tide had come in by the time I returned and the prints not as clean but you can still see the size, my fingertips are touching the mud.

I then followed the hoof prints along the edge and found out that where I thought it had run off into the bush it hadn’t, it had continued on along the edge for quite a distance. It was funny to see nice clean prints where it had walked in and the hurried and scuffed marks as it made it’s escape. It had exited the bay near a stream right up the top where there were also quite a number of other hoof marks, so I wonder if there was more than just the large deer I saw.

I wish I had of gone back inside and seen it from the back window, it would have carried on up the bay and I could have taken a photo. For the last few mornings I have been leaving the blind up at the back at night and checking at 6am. Just in case. But it hasn’t returned & is not likely to either. Oh well at least I saw it flash by. Another exciting sighting.

A resident flock of about 14 Royal Spoonbills (Kotuku ngutupapa) feeds on the mudflats at low tide, I can’t manage to get too close to them without getting bogged down in the mud, they do roost in a large macrocapa tree near the road but I have yet to get them there in the right light.

I tracked a wood pigeon (Kereru) through the bush along the water edge the other day and found this cute little bach tucked up in a clearing. A mown track wide enough for a small boat trailer led down to the water but I think they also wouldn’t be able to go fishing too much. I like the wide opening doors onto the tiny deck.

And of course camping in the Sounds wouldn't be complete without the comical & scavenging weka. We are parked in another weka family’s patch, this time just one adult and one large fledgling chick.

There are quite a number of weka in the camp ground but they each have their own patch and woe betold any that encroach into another’s territory. We’ve witnessed a few big scraps, they are very fast runners but it doesn’t help when it’s another weka chasing you! I just love the feather pattern, I can see why Maori used the gorgeous copper coloured feathers in their cloaks.

Sunset over Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough Sounds.

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.

Rai Valley Cottage

Just a short post because the sign says it all.

The cottage is just a couple hundred metres down a side road near the junction with the Okiwi Bay-French Pass Road. We stopped for a look on our way to Havelock.

I like the two old petticoat palms, totally out of place beside a New Zealand historic totara slab cottage but blending in just fine with the weathered & aged wood.

As was typical of the times, settlers built tiny houses; the rooms were small with a low ceiling, the sitting room would be hard pressed to seat the whole family and with four children and just two small bedrooms and a lean-to tacked on the back it would have been hard to have any privacy.

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.