April 9, 2016
The Popoure Reach heads inland for 12 miles, ending at Mahau Sound, the innermost of all the Marlborough Sounds. Branching off along the way is the Kenepuru Sound, our destination, but we’d be stopping at a place called Stafford Bay for the night.
The first thing we noticed about the Popoure Reach was that it was much greener than the rather barren-looking Tawhitinui Reach. On our left the mountains were covered with pine farms, and to our right was native New Zealand forest. This channel of water was about a mile wide, with impressive mountains on both sides. (Below a gallery of Popoure Reach–click to enlarge/scroll.)
We didn’t have far to go to get to Stafford Bay, nestled in a small indent protected by a boot-shaped peninsula. From a distance it didn’t look all that interesting, but as we got close we discovered this spot is actually very pretty.
Stafford Bay had the look of our favorite bays: steep lush hills, nikau palms, kiekie plants, and green water. Since there were two empty combined-club moorings, we picked one up, saving ourselves the effort of finding a spot to anchor. While I had mostly chosen bay this for it’s convenience, it turned out to be a worthwhile stop. –Cyndi
(Below a gallery of Safford Bay, photos taken at various times of the day. Click to enlarge/scroll.)
