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The Marlborough Sounds covers 4,000 km2 of sounds, islands and peninsulas north of the South Island. The sounds were extensively travelled and partly inhabited by Maori groups before Captain Cook reached the South Island in 1770. Travellers today can experience the glorious sounds as well as the magic of the Marlborough Sounds.
Long peninsulas snaking out into the waters of the Marlborough Sounds are the dominant feature in this extraordinary landscape. These ridgelines were once the highest points in a series of mountain ranges and river valleys that originally formed the northern tip of the South Island. These river valleys were flooded at the end of the last ice age when the sea level rose, creating the magnificent Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru and Pelorus Sounds, long winding tracts of water that are bordered by narrow slivers of land stretching from the mainland out into the Cook Strait. Strong tidal currents from Cook Strait flow through narrow entrances into the waterways of the Marlborough Sounds producing complex currents in places like French Pass. The inner reaches of the Sounds are a lot more sheltered and are popular places for a range of recreational activities including swimming, boating, diving, fishing and kayaking. Many of these small inlets and tranquil bays can only be reached by boat and although the scenic roads leading along the ridges provide a long slow journey, they also provide magnificent views across the Sounds.
Marlborough-Echo
1picton
Located on the southern shores of Queen Charlotte Sound, Picton was once considered as a possible site for the capital city.
It is now the gateway to the South Island for thousands of visitors each year, arriving on inter-island car and passenger ferries from Wellington. The Picton Museum, near London Quay, has a collection of Maori artefacts and a number of relics from the whaling days including old harpoon guns. A large collection of marine life, including seahorses,
can be seen at the EcoWorld Aquarium & Terrarium along with tuatara, lizards, frogs and turtles. A short distance along the eastern shoreline of the harbour, you can go on board the coastal trader Echo. Built on the Wairau River in 1905, she once carried freight between Blenheim and Wellington until 1965, when the rail ferry service began. This old scow even saw service in 1943 during the Second World War when she was used by the United States Navy as an escort vessel during the Bougainville campaign. Nearby, walking tracks lead along the shore to Bob's Bay and up to lookout points over Queen Charlotte Sound.
the edwin for maritime museum
About 100 meters from the ferry terminus.
For years the hulk of this clipper lay derelict on the shores of Shakespeare Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. Built in Calcutta, India in 1853, the design of the Edwin Fox was based on the frigates that were being built at Blackwall on the Thames in London at the time. She carried troops to the Crimean War, took convicts to Australia and worked in the tea trade before she was overtaken by the age of steam. Converted to a barque, she continued to sail, bringing immigrants to New Zealand in the 1870s. Her last voyage was from London in 1885 to Dunedin, carrying a cargo of 500 tonnes of coal and salt. The Edwin Fox was then fitted with freezing equipment and used for storing meat, and was towed to various ports around the country, ending up in Picton in 1897. This once-handsome vessel is the 9th oldest wooden troop ship in the in existence and with its distinctive metal-sheathed teak hull is now being restored.
2anakiwa
Drive 21 km west from Picton on Queen Charlotte Drive, turn right onto Anakiwa Rd and travel 4.2 km north.
Anakiwa is the base of the well-known Outward Bound School which runs adventurous outdoor courses designed to build character and confidence. You can get a taste of the 71 km Queen Charlotte Track that links up with further walking routes all the way to Ship Cove, by taking a short walk on the first part of the track from Anakiwa, following a well graded old bridle path through stands of large beech trees along the shoreline.
Marlborough-Kenepuru
3Portage
Return to Queen Charlotte Drive, turn right and continue west 2.3 km to Linkwater, turn right onto Kenerpuru Road and drive 30 km north-east to Portage.
For a scenic detour you can follow the winding road out along Mahau Sound and continue along the south-eastern edge of Kenepuru Sound for magnificent views across these sheltered forest-fringed waterways. The shop and marina at Portage cater for the numerous boaties who frequent the sounds.
Cullen point lookout
Return to Queen Charlotte Drive, turn right and drive west 9.5 km towards Havelock. The Cullen Point Lookout is signposted on the right off a short access road.
From the end of the l0-minute track onto Cullen Point you can look out across both sides of the peninsula with views of Havelock tucked away beneath the ranges to the south, the Kaituna and Pelorus estuaries and Mahau Sound to the north.
4havelock
Continue 4.3 km south-west to Havelock.
Today it is hard to believe that this quiet little town once boasted 23 noisy hotels. Havelock began life as a small but busy port during the short-lived Wakamarina gold rush in 1864, later becoming a sawmilling town with a wood-burning locomotive that brought timber out from the native forests from Carluke to Blackball, to the west of Havelock. Remarkably, two of New Zealand’s most distinguished scientists, Lord Rutherford ('father of the atom') and Dr William Pickering, of space-exploration fame, both went to primary school in Havelock. There is a museum in St John's Church and in March each year the town hosts its own festival celebrating the green-lipped mussels for which the Marlborough Sounds are famous. From the Havelock marina you can also take a boat trip through the Sounds to the Tui Nature Reserve Conservation Park.
5Canvastown
From Havelock drive 9.5 km west on SH6 to Canvastown.
The village of Pinedale became Canvastown in the early 1860s when thousands of gold miners flocked to the area, most of them living in tents. For a short time this was the richest goldfield in the country, but by 1865 the surface gold had been worked out and the boom was over, the miners departing as quickly as they had arrived. There are relics from the mining days near the Canvastown Hotel and the area is still popular for gold panning as well as trout fishing.
Pelorus Bridge, near the meeting point of the Pelorus and Rai Rivers
6pelorus bridge
Continue 9.2 km west on SH6 to the Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve.
The original route to Nelson went over the hills but when the path followed by the road today was discovered in the 1860s, a bridge was built across the Pelorus River and a site laid out for a township. The area was reserved for its scenic beauty and the township was never built although the bridge was replaced in the 1950s. Today the reserve is a popular place to stop for a picnic and a swim in the cool clear waters of the Pelorus River. There are also a number of forest walks including the Totara Walk, a 30 minute loop through the lush green forest made up mainly of beech, rimu, hinau, matai, kahikatea and totara. One giant old totara on the track has a girth of over 7 m.
7rai valley pioneer cottage
From Pelorus Bridge travel 9.2 km northeast on SH6 and turn right just past the Rai Valley township. Drive 1.5 km north on Opouri Road. The Rai Valley Pioneer Cottage is on the left at Carluke.
The cottage was built in 1881 by Charles Turner when the area was still cloaked in rainforest. Charles and his wife Tilly were the first Europeans to settle in the area, using locally available materials to build their home including slabs of totara for the walls, shingles for the roof and riverstones for the fireplace. For a decade the Turners and their children were the only inhabitants in the valley, with Charles working as a bushman and Tilly hand churning butter, making bread and growing vegetables. They welcomed travelers and played instruments at local dances when the township of Carluke began to develop nearby as sawmills were established in the area. The cottage was restored in 1969 and was gifted to the Historic Places Trust in 1980. The fully furnished interior can be examined through specially designed viewing bays.
The sparkling expanse of Tennyson Inlet
7tennyson inlet
From Carluke continue 24.5 km to Tennyson Inlet. There is a lookout point at the top of the hills before the road descends to the inlet. Just before reaching the inlet the left fork of the road leads 6.6 km across a peninsula and around the shoreline to a jetty at Penzance Bay and the start of the Archer Track to Elaine Bay. The right fork leads 2.7 km to Duncan Bay and the start of the Nydia Track.
Surrounded by forested covered hills, Tennyson Inlet is one of the most beautiful locations in the Marlborough Sounds. Two well-graded tracks lead along the shoreline from both sides of the inlet. The Archer Track follows the western shoreline of Tennyson Inlet all the way to Elaine Bay. The first section of the track is the most scenic, passing through beautiful native forest on a gentle grade as it climbs almost imperceptibly above the water. Most of the old bridle paths in the area were built in this way, designed to make the climb as easy as possible for the horses. At the south-eastern edge of Tennyson Inlet the 22 km Nydia Track heads along the coastline before climbing across the forest-clad hills to Nydia Bay and Kaiuma. Again, the first 20 minutes walk provide beautiful views through the forest across the still waters of this peaceful inlet.
After exploring Tennyson Inlet return to SH 6 for the 45 km journey west to Nelson.