April 5 and 6, 2016
The Pelorus Sound is far more than the single name would indicate. It’s the gateway into an area of sounds and waterways going back 20-miles deep. At the innermost end is the little town of Havelock.
Our guidebook had mentioned that the Pelorus Sound is mostly farmland. I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I pictured green pastures and livestock. So far, though, this was looking like fairly dry grass and scrub. This wasn’t exactly surprising as the outer areas were very dry, but we’d hoped to see more greenery as soon as we headed into the sound.
Our first stop was Ketu Bay, not far from the entrance. We’d heard this bay was very pretty, but as we turned into the bay, we were fairly underwhelmed. The hills were tall, but the vegetation was more chaparral than forest. This felt more like Southern California than New Zealand.
After anchoring on the east side of the bay, we sat outside to get a sense of our surroundings. It’s not that this place wasn’t perfectly nice, but this sort of scenery is not why we came to the sounds. Below, a gallery from entering Pelorus Sound and photos of Ketu Bay. (Click to enlarge and scroll on any of the gallery photos below.)
With this, I decided to change our game plan. Instead of working our way inland slowly, we’d to go straight for the “big guns,” the most recommended destinations in these sounds. If Ketu Bay was representative of the rest of the area, it would be better to find out now and head on sooner.
The new plan: Skip the remaining anchorages in this main branch of the Pelorus Sound and head straight to an area called the Tawhitinui Reach. This would give us access to the Tennyson Inlet (recommended by pretty much everyone), and Hallam Cove (recommended by the guidebook). After visiting those places, we’d head down the Popoure Reach to the Kenepuru Sound (with its iconic Portage Resort Hotel), and maybe spend time in the town of Havelock.
After a very peaceful night’s sleep, we went to have our morning coffee outside. I have to say in the morning light Ketu Bay looked much prettier. The clouds and dampness made the hills look greener, and when the sun came out the glassy water reflected the mountains like a mirror. Maybe we were a little hasty in our judgement, but we decided to stick with the new plan and head inland. Below, a gallery of Ketu Bay in the morning light. –Cyndi
