Yachting, Vol. 2

by R. T. Pritchett; G. L. Blake; Marquis of Frederick Temple Blackwood Dufferin and Ava; James McFerran; T. B. Middleton

Travelling to the southern end of the North Island to the harbour of Port Nicholson, we come to Wellington, the capital, where the Port Nicholson Yacht Club have their headquarters.

An annual regatta is held here in January. The harbour, though magnificent for steamers or vessels of large tonnage, is subject to the gales and sudden squalls which blow through Cook's Strait as through a blast pipe, and therefore not always to be trusted. Not a few sad accidents have happened to small craft sailing on the waters of the harbour.

Most enjoyable excursions may be made from Wellington to the sounds on the northern shores of the South Island, but great care should be exercised in crossing Cook's Strait, though the distance to the first sound is but a few miles. The winds are local, and almost invariably north-west or south-east. Yachts running through the Straits should, therefore, be on the look out for a rapid change from the south-east to north-east, or from north-west to south-west, as they open out either entrance. Queen Charlotte and the Pelorus are the most picturesque of these sounds. They resemble somewhat the fiords of Norway, and though they have not the grandeur of the sounds on the west coast of this island, they are remarkable for the soft green contour of their slopes and the striking contrast between sky, shore, and sea which they present in clear weather.

Picton, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound, is picturesquely situated, with a good wharf. Like those in the south, the sounds are so deep (20 to 25 fathoms) that, except in the coves, of which, fortunately, there is no lack, vessels have difficulty in finding an anchorage. Like the harbour of Wellington across the strait, these sounds are liable to many gusts from the mountain gullies, and care should be exercised whenever it is known to be blowing hard outside.

Pelorus Sound has even more coves and bays than Queen Charlotte Sound, and no inconsiderable time is necessary to explore the whole of it.

There is abundance of both wood and fresh water; in every part excellent fishing with the line may be had. Most of the catch will be new to English fishermen. Rock cod, blue cod, schnapper, the giant hapuka, a sort of cod, and the game kahawai, which will run like a salmon, are the best from a gastronomical and sporting point of view. Enough has been caught by a single line in a day to feed the whole crew of a man-of-war. Every sort of necessary provision is obtainable both at Havelock and Picton, at the heads of the respective sounds.

From the northern sounds every traveller will wish to proceed through the remarkable French pass to Nelson in Blind Bay. This bay is singularly free from gales and storms. Often, while a hurricane is tearing and raging through Cook's Strait, calm weather will be found to prevail without disturbance in Blind Bay.

The harbour of Nelson is formed by a very remarkable bank 4½ miles in length, covered with huge boulders and forming a natural breakwater to the harbour. There are one or two gaps in the bank at high water where boats and very small vessels may pass over, but the tide runs with such force that it is not advisable to attempt it.

The entrance is not more than 50 yards wide, and lies between the bold pinnacle of the Arrow Rock and the barrel beacon at the edge of the Boulder Bank. The entrance is easily effected on the flood, but the tides run very strong in and out of the narrow entrance. The climate of Nelson is perhaps the most perfect in all New Zealand, and the scenery of the bay, with its blue waters and background of snow-covered mountains in winter and early spring, excels anything that can be seen on the Riviera, while the climate closely resembles that of the French littoral of the Mediterranean; the only unpleasantness being the Waimea wind, felt in early spring down the valley of the Waimea, but it is neither so continuous nor so unpleasant as the Mistral of the Riviera.

Very pleasant expeditions may be made to Motueka and Collingwood, on the opposite shores of the bay. The Californian quail exists in great abundance on these shores; so much so that the little steamers plying weekly bring sackloads of the birds to Nelson, where they are preserved whole in tins for export.