However, the 40-minute, 32km drive from State Highway 6 at Rai Valley is not to be taken lightly with a trailer. The road takes you through the Ōpōuri Valley – a mix of scenic farmland as well as exotic and native forest – and over Ōpōuri Saddle. It might be just 520m above sea level, but the concentration required when towing a boat makes you feel you’re heading over a rugged alpine pass.
After cresting the saddle, you’ll wind slowly downhill to the quaint community of Duncan Bay and, after another 15 minutes, Penzance. Either way, these two locations are the closest boat ramps in the Marlborough Sounds from Nelson, so they do get plenty of use. They also host many holiday homes, as well as a few permanent residents.
Tennyson Inlet encompasses the area from Duncan Bay to Tawhitinui Reach, about six nautical miles (11km) away, but for the purposes of this article, I’m also highlighting some other features and opportunities across the outer Pelorus Sound.
The Duncan Bay boat ramp is in good condition, but it can be tricky in blustery north and northwest winds, and parking during peak periods is at a premium. The wharf next to the ramp is somewhat of a contradiction; even at low tide it sits under water and is therefore pretty much ineffective. Perhaps climate change has hit the bay early? However, there’s another wharf just 50m away to load supplies and passengers if required.
A wonderful point about boating from Duncan and Penzance Bays is the diversity of opportunities that await as you exit the bays: watersports, fishing, picnicking, or exploring – the choice is yours. Tennyson Inlet provides all these options in spades but also gives boaties easy access to the wider Pelorus Sound, which is itself made up of different geographic parts, including Tawhitinui Reach, Waitātā Reach, Hikapu Reach, and Popure Reach. Furthermore, Keneperu Sound isn’t too far away. My point: there’s no shortage of places to visit or explore.
One highly useful source of knowledge is the Marlborough Cruise Guide, an interactive app and website showing marinas, anchorages, boat ramps, moorings, facilities, and other local information and images. Information is presented in map format and includes satellite images and nautical charts. It should be mandatory studying for anyone heading into the region.
Blustery northwesterly conditions and passing showers escorted me out of Duncan on my most recent visit, but my mood quickly improved as I encountered a small pod of dusky dolphins. Throughout Tennyson and further afield, you’ll likely be met by these large, acrobatic dolphins as well as bottlenose and the much smaller Hectors dolphins. As I’ve discovered over the years, some of the dusky pods appear to contain hundreds of dolphins. Their leaps, backslaps, head slaps, tail slaps, and spins provide a remarkable show; however, it’s important to watch from a distance. It’s not just dolphins to keep you entertained – you might see little blue penguins bobbing on the water, seals swimming or sunbathing, and even the occasional orca or whale, as well as many marine birds.
Penzance is a larger community than Duncan Bay and very popular for holidaymakers and boaties alike. The boat ramp and other facilities here, as well as at Duncan Bay, are owned and maintained by the Tennyson Inlet Boat Club, which was formed in 1958 and now boasts nearly 200 members plus their families.
On the far side of Tennyson from Penzance are Tawa and Matai Bays – Tawa Bay hosts a small Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite, while Matai Bay is home to a small hut managed by the Matai Bay Hut Trust for DOC, and bookings must be made in advance via the trust’s website. This is the only beachfront hut remaining in the Marlborough Sounds.
Elaine Bay hosts fishing and aquaculture facilities, and because of that, smaller fishing vessels and mussel boats regularly dock. Road access into the bay is via the same road that takes visitors out to French Pass. The boat ramp is compacted gravel, but because it’s a very tidal bay, it’s advisable to launch closer to high tide.
If you push out from Elaine Bay and past Tawhitinui Island, you might find the nearby Hallam Cove and Fiztroy Bay
a fascinating location to spend a few hours; sheltered and scenic with remarkable water clarity. It’s also here that you begin to notice the scale of the outer Sounds three key industries – forestry, farming and aquaculture (marine farming).
After all, the sheltered bays and clean waters of the Sounds make it a perfect environment for marine farming, particularly for green-lipped mussels and chinook (king) salmon. In fact, marine farming in Marlborough produces approximately 80% of all commercially grown seafood in New Zealand. On average 65,000 tonnes of mussels and about 6,000 tonnes of salmon are harvested each year in Marlborough, together earning hundreds of millions of dollars in exports.
Accommodation around Tennyson Inlet and beyond is varied – from bookable holiday homes to high-end lodges. As mentioned, there are DOC campsites scattered around the Marlborough Sounds, and Tennyson Inlet (as well as Pelorus and Keneperu Sounds) is no different. Some campsites, like those at Elaine and Harvey Bays, are accessible to vehicles and offer up to 25 non-powered sites, while others like Waiona, Tawa and Kauauroa Bays can only be reached by boat and may have room for just a couple of tents.
But DOC’s presence in the area isn’t just based around providing and servicing campsites; there are significant areas of land available for hunting, walking, biking and picnicking, and the popular two-day Nydia Bay track is nearby. Other islands in the outer Sounds – including the Chetwodes – have specific conservation status and you can’t land.
Perhaps the best known is Te Pākeka/Maud Island – a haven for rare and unique wildlife due to its predator-free status. You can only admire the island from the water; it’s a closed scientific reserve and you need a permit to visit. The island has a rich and diverse history based around early Māori settlement, subsequent European farming, World War II defenses, and, since the mid-1970s, conservation.
The weather in Tennyson Inlet and Pelorus is generally mild, but conditions can be very localised and change quickly. The Nelson Marlborough Marine Radio service provides superb VHF coverage – including localised weather forecasts – to this entire region.
In one instance forecasts had warned of an approaching southerly front bringing high winds, thunderstorms, and potential hail. I’d watched the towering storm clouds get ever closer as I fished around a mussel farm and when a kingfish busted me off, I figured it was an omen to run for cover before the weather turned.
I hooked onto a mooring in Port Ligar just as the southerly arrived and the conditions deteriorated. But, I quickly realised my mistake in not consulting the Cruise Guide in more detail because the southerly barrels into Port Ligar, and I was soon copping a hiding. I dropped the mooring and, as the sun set, made my way across this wide and exposed stretch of water and into a small gap between a mussel farm and the shore. Here, in just 10m of water, I anchored and got the kettle boiling and watched the storm’s spectacle; water spindrifts were whipped across Port Ligar and Pelorus Sound while behind me trees creaked and groaned on the hillside. About midnight I woke to check my mooring and was amazed to find flat calm water and a starscape that was so bright and close it seemed
I could reach my arm through the hatch and handpick a star for myself. I have also escaped a storm by spending a night on a mooring at Ketu Bay on the other side of the sound and found it a pleasant, sheltered spot.
From Ketu Bay it’s a short cruise around Post Office Point with its World War II gun emplacements and on to Duffer’s Reef, a long line of rocky outcrops extending several hundred metres from Forsyth Island. The reef is a scenic spot to fish, and from here you can view the Chetwode Islands about three nautical miles (5km) away, which are a collection of two large islands – Te Kakaho and Nukuwaiata – as well as several offshore sea stacks and impressive rock features. While just a short hop from Pelorus, wind and water conditions can be unpredictable out here, so care should be taken.
You can easily spend a pleasurable few hours anchored in the lee of the Nukuwaiata Island catching snapper, blue cod and gurnard on natural bait, as well as softbaits and small jigs. Or, you can chase some of the large kingfish that loiter in these waters.
From the Chetwodes, D’Urville and its outlying islands are visible, and if conditions are favourable, it’s an easy trip. Looking the other way, to the south and east, other well-known Marlborough landscapes are visible, including the small nature reserve of Titi Island, Te Paruparu/Forsyth Island and even further, Cape Jackson marking the outer entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound.
Tennyson Inlet’s almost a seven-hour drive from my home near Christchurch with the boat, so it’s not a destination I visit every few weeks. However, like the wider Marlborough Sounds, it is a truly special place and well worth taking the time to explore.
