A Scenic Summer Boat Trip Through Marlborough Sounds
Leading up to the Christmas holiday shutdown, the company I work for decided that the Christmas function would be on the 17th of December, featuring a three hour scenic boat trip through the Marlborough Sounds. They chose the Marlborough Tour Company and we were to cruise aboard their vessel, the Olympic Spirit. As the date approached the weather wasn’t looking promising, with forecasts of heavy rain and strong winds, but thankfully conditions improved and on the day we only experienced occasional showers throughout the cruise.
On the day I boarded the 9:45am bus at Renwick, which was the first pickup, we made four other stops before finally heading toward Picton, arriving not long after 11:00am. After a short wait of about fifteen to twenty minutes, we boarded the boat and began our cruise. As we were leaving Picton, we were greeted by our first brief shower of rain, which thankfully cleared away quickly.
Leaving Picton
The skipper of the boat used to work for a company connected to the wine industry in Marlborough, and we also happen to follow one another on Instagram. Even though I was on the boat for the company Christmas function, I had taken my camera along because there are always excellent photo opportunities in the Marlborough Sounds. Bill, the skipper, would often come over and tell me about upcoming photo opportunities and the best vantage points to shoot from the boat. The first pictures I took were of the Outward Bound boat that had rowed from Anakiwa into Queen Charlotte Sound, so I briefly put down my beer and picked up my camera to capture the scene. Below is the sequence of photos I captured, arranged in the order I took them.
After capturing the Outward Bound boat, Bill came and saw me again as the Coastguard boat returned, having just finished an exercise alongside the Bluebridge Ferry.
Prior to lunch on the boat, I was on the top deck enjoying a beer and good conversation with work colleagues as we began to head toward one of the bays in the Marlborough Sounds, I first noticed a lone pine tree with a caravan nestled below its branches. Realizing my camera was in my bag down on the main deck, I made my way below to grab it so I could try for the shot. By the time I returned I had missed the exact composition I had initially seen, but I was still able to capture an image that conveys what it’s like to live in the Marlborough Sounds. Not far from the caravan there was an extensive grouping of baches, but what caught my eye was the native pōhutukawa in flower nearby.
After leaving the bay, we continued to travel further along the tranquil Marlborough Sounds until we passed and circled around one of the many King Salmon farms, then we dropped anchor and enjoyed our lunch aboard the boat.
Not long after 2pm we began to make our way back to Picton, and the showers of rain returned at this point. Even though the weather was unsettled, there was still plenty of activity on the water. We were quite intrigued as we passed a barge heading toward Picton that had four tanker trailers onboard, it remains a mystery where it had come from; perhaps a salmon farm?
All in all, despite the unsettled weather, it was a very enjoyable boat cruise around the Marlborough Sounds. Once back in Picton, it was soon time to board the bus for the trip back home.