It’s only sixty-four nautical miles from Wellington to Picton, our next port, so we didn’t leave until almost 5:00 am. We had to cross Cook Strait (remember – unpredictable, treacherous?) on the way and, to quote one of my fellow passengers, it was “lake-like”. We’ve really been lucky with the seas throughout the entire trip. Picton was our first stop on the South Island, reputed to be much more spectacular than its northern neighbor. From my point of view, what I had seen so far had convinced me that New Zealand was my new “favorite place in the world”. I couldn’t wait to see just what the South Island held in store.I was on deck early since we were scheduled to do some scenic cruising of Queen Charlotte Sound and Captain
Cook Ship Cove on the way to Picton. From the research I had done, this area was supposed to be absolutely beautiful. It certainly lived up to its reputation. It was overcast and misty as we sailed into Queen Charlotte Sound, giving it an almost mystical quality. And the scenery was breath-taking, with the clouds hanging right on top of rolling green mountains. Then, right on cue, a rainbow appeared off the starboard 
side of the ship. It added just the right touch! After a while, we reached Ship Cove. This was one of Captain Cook’s preferred anchorages and he stopped here often during his explorations of New Zealand. A freshwater stream provided drinking water and the gently sloping beach allowed the ship to be grounded for repairs, then re-floated during the next high tide. Plus, it was a gorgeous location! We would be coming back here later in the day on a shore excursion.
Picton is nestled between the mountains and the sound and is just about the prettiest little village I’ve ever seen. The sail-in is very picturesque and you can see the town long before you actually reach the harbor. We were the first cruise ship of the season. Even though the Volendam is small by cruise ship standards, she was sixty feet longer than the dock which required some creative line-tying. I can’t imagine how larger ships will handle it. We were greeted by the town ladies with small corsages of wildflowers as we came down the gangway. It was a nice touch, I think. Greg and I were booked on the same afternoon excursion so we decided to make the short walk into town
for a little sightseeing. The area surrounding the harbor was a park-like environment, with palm trees and flowering shrubs everywhere. As usual, there was a small craft display with locally-made souvenirs, including some really interesting stuffed animals and dolls. The town itself was only a couple of blocks around but there were some interesting shops. My favorite was the Jade Factory. I bought a jade bracelet even though I had no idea what I would do with it once I got home. I just thought that it was pretty. It’s still wrapped up in tissue and is lying on the dresser at this moment. Perhaps I’ll meet a woman who likes jade….
After spending some time in town, we headed back to the ship for the “Dolphin Watch and Guided Walk at Ship Cove” excursion. Apparently, it was a popular trip since there were two boats loaded with passengers. It was cold and damp when we left the dock so I was perfectly content to remain inside the lower deck cabin. If we saw dolphins, I’d go outside. What we saw immediately upon leaving the dock was the Inter-Islander ferry which makes several trips per day between the North and South Islands. It’s a big boat so we decided to yield the right of way. Once it cleared, we headed back down Queen Charlotte Sound, the same way we came in this morning. We hadn’t gone too far when we came to a screeching halt, which turned out to be a large flock of seabirds of some kind.
Not too exciting. But then the dolphins showed up! I can’t remember which came first but we saw both bottlenose and dusky dolphins. And lots of them. We watched them for quite a while but then had to continue on to Ship Cove in order to keep on schedule. As we approached Ship Cove, we could see the monument to Captain Cook from a long way out. Cook made five stops here and the Kiwis erected a large, white commemorative monument in the early 1900s. Like I said, it can be seen from far out to sea and acts as a beacon for ships looking for a safe harbor.
Once we reached the dock, we disembarked and wandered around for a while, admiring the scenery and taking some pictures. We saw a “weka”, another of New Zealand’s flightless birds. It’s sorta like a chicken, for lack of a better description. Not particularly exciting but interesting, I suppose. The guides divided the passengers into two groups, depending on whether you wanted to do the “history walk” or the “jungle walk”. History walk people hung around the cove and got a history lesson. That didn’t interest me so I decided on the jungle walk. It was a pretty strenuous hike, uphill over some pretty rough and muddy terrain. At the top, however, there was a beautiful twin waterfall that made the walk worthwhile. Of course, after about ten minutes, we had to make the walk back down the same muddy trail. But it was fun.
After a little more “wandering” time, we re-boarded the catamarans for the trip back to Picton. Just a little way out of Ship Cove, we ran across some seals and some more birds. We stopped to watch for a few minutes then took off again. Just before we reached Picton harbor, there was some commotion at the rear of the boat. Seems that some dolphins had decided to follow us all the way back and were riding in our stern wake. Of course, we had to get some pictures of them and they were very cooperative, staying with us until we reached the dock! It was a great day in my new favorite port.
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