March 22, 2016
We’d only been in the Grove Arm a few days when we saw the forecast for another front coming in. It looked like it might get pretty gusty; so we had to decide whether to stay out in one of the bays or go back to Picton.
Anchoring for one of these fronts is a bit tricky because of their pattern: they start with northerly winds, but finish with southerlies. You have to look for a spot that gives you protection from both while being aware that certain areas can act as a funnel for winds, actually enhancing them before blasting them into the bay.
We spent part of a day motoring around sightseeing; then went to look at a potential all-weather anchorage in the east arm of a bay called Double Cove. It was in a long narrow cove lined with private homes. While we couldn’t really see the houses in the thick vegetation, the shore was lined with their boathouses, and everyone seemed to have at least one private mooring. This left no room for us to anchor.
That was the first of three reasons we decided to head back to Picton for the weekend. The second was that it was Easter weekend. Pretty much every boat in New Zealand is out during Easter weekend, and while this is a big area, we pictured all the best spots filling up.
The third reason refers back to that big area thing. The next area of Queen Charlotte Sound we wanted to explore was about 15 miles long, with several big bays about a mile deep, plus a big one about 4 miles deep. Within these big bays are the little coves and bays where you can anchor or moor your boat, and these are the main attraction. I’d learned in “little” Grove Arm just how long a trip can become when you motor up into every bay to look at the anchorages, and how much it can start to annoy the ship’s captain. So I came up with an idea: do the mail run.
The mail run is one of Picton’s main attractions. The mail boat takes different routes through Queen Charlotte Sound, depending on what day it is, delivering mail to scattered homes throughout the area that have no access by road. They take passengers along for the trip, letting them enjoy the scenery inside the bays (something they don’t get to see from the ferry).
I’d known about the mail run, but when we arrived here I smugly thought we don’t need to even consider it when we have our own boat! But now I’d been humbled by the size and grandeur of this area. The things we could see in a day from the mail boat would take us weeks in our own boat. We could pick out two or three spots we most wanted stay and go back there on our own.
There was one more thought: maybe we’d make the drive to Havelock (another town in the sounds north of us) and Nelson (our final destination) and make some decisions about whether we want to hurry to get there or take our time. We had so many unknowns ahead; and it had been confusing to try to figure out what we wanted to squeeze in before the season was over.
I will note here that, a couple of months ago, we decided not to buy a car and drive around the south island this year. Instead, we did our major boat work in Tauranga (on the north island) before making our way south. We’d then devote what remained of this season to cruising the north end of the south island. Hopefully we’d do the driving thing the following year.
Meanwhile, here’s a gallery from our motoring around Grove Arm, including some spots we checked out but decided not to stay. Click to enlarge, scroll, and see names. –Cyndi
And here’s where all this is (including Mistletoe Bay and Flipper where we did stay–see the post before last) on this map of Grove Arm (interactive Google map – zoom and pan as you wish)…
