March 28, 2016
The mail boat cruise takes place six days a week in the Marlborough Sounds. There are three different routes to choose from, and I’d chosen the route for Queen Charlotte Sound’s north bays because that area is more scenic (with some exceptions, I’m sure) than the south side. (We didn’t consider the Tory Channel route because we’d already been there).
And so I’d signed us up for the Monday run. After a burger lunch at the Thirsty Pig, we headed down to the mail boat. It was impressive, with a large indoor seating area, a small covered deck out back, and lots of seating and standing room on the upper-level, open-air deck. There was also a nice area where a few people could stand up front with the captain.
Pretty much all the passengers wanted to sit up top, while Rich opted to stand up in the front to enjoy talking with Julian, the captain, and Hsuan, his sometime-assistant who also does stints on the Rainbow Warrior. Since my objectives today were to sightsee, take photos, and try to get a sense of these places so I could make some decisions about where to return, I was all over the boat. Sometimes I was up top to best get a feeling for a place, other times I was taking pictures out the back or standing up front with Rich, Julian, Hsuan, listening to any recommendations they had.
One of the best things about the mail boat cruise was the actual delivery of the mail. They ride up alongside a dock where a person is standing and holding a bag. Julian opens his side window, gets out a similar bag holding their mail, and they exchange bags so the empty one can serve as the vessel for their next delivery. Sometimes Julian lets nearby passengers do the exchange, and I actually got to deliver the first mail of the day, which was pretty exciting.
Meanwhile Hsuan had given me some cat food for the two Burmese cats who live there and often accompany their owner onto the dock. Alas, they didn’t come today, but on subsequent deliveries we got to meet several dogs and give them biscuits. It’s no mystery why people’s pets enjoy meeting the mail boat, and of course the passengers love seeing them! I had booked this cruise to gather information, but this mail delivery part was endlessly entertaining.
We also heard many stories from Julian about goings-on in the area. It seems the two Burmese cats we missed don’t like dogs, saw a sea lion sleeping on their dock, and thinking he was a dog went over there and made quick work of chasing him off. Sea lions are very stubborn and difficult to remove, and in California they’re a real problem when they make themselves at home on boats. Sea lions will stay put through yelling, poking, being hit with a chair, or getting shot at, but no one, not even a sea lion, wants to get beaten up by a cat. Who knew all it took to solve this issue were Burmese cats?
This cruise was incredibly fun, entertaining and informative. It answered some of my big questions (Is it worth going down the 4-mile long Endeavor Inlet? Yes, its high mountains were spectacular and I wanted to go back and spend time there) and gave me some new ideas (I’d written off dinner at one upscale resort because it was too expensive but today realized we could go for breakfast). Ship Cove, where we were able get off and walk around for awhile, was magical and I place I definitely wanted to return. Other places I was able to write off as I felt we’d seen enough of them from this boat.
In all, this was a terrific thing to do, one of the best things we’ve done in New Zealand. This excursion just happened to fall on Rich’s birthday, and I’d felt bad because we were doing this mostly for me. But Rich had such a good time, I don’t think I could have picked out a better gift for him. Sitting up front on the mail delivery boat is pretty cool, but so is really seeing some great scenery, and Rich and I each got to focus on what we most enjoyed. What a great afternoon! I’d recommend this excursion to anyone visiting the South Island and the sounds. –Cyndi
Below, some photos from our mail boat cruise. Click to enlarge and scroll.
