KEY POINTS:
If Captain James Cook had a home away from home it was Queen Charlotte Sound, a place he visited five times, anchoring in Ship Cove for a total of around 100 days. Here, he planted vegetable gardens, released pigs and goats and, on a small island inside the sound, raised the Union Jack to claim British sovereignty over New Zealand.
About the only thing Cook didn't do was build a holiday home, something generations of Kiwis have done in his stead. For, if Cook was impressed by Queen Charlotte Sound's beauty, thousands after him have shared the sentiment. Baches line its shores, and walking tracks plough along the surrounding ridges and through the shaggy forest on the hillsides.
Like Cook, however, I have chosen to see the sound from the water, though my vessel is no Endeavour. For three days I will paddle a kayak in the explorer's figurative wake.
My companion is Jason, though at times it will seem as though Cook himself is with us, so ubiquitous is his name: around Queen Charlotte Sound there's a Cook monument, Cook cairn and Cook lookout, bays called Endeavour and Resolution, and at the sound's end is Cook Strait.
But more even than traces of Cook, what I want to see is Queen Charlotte's noted wildlife. Fur seals and bottlenose dolphins inhabit the sound's waters, and if I'm to choose between Captain Cook and Flipper, I want to see the dolphin.
Our paddle begins in Picton, where we are escorted out by the terns and shags. Coming towards us is something infinitely larger: a cruise-ship-sized inter-island ferry. It grinds to within a few hundred metres of our kayaks then, to our great relief, veers away and into dock at Picton.
We cross the sound to Double Cove, fighting against the wind gusts that hurry through, sucking us backwards. Double Cove is noted for its own marine wildlife experience of sorts - for years, tour boats have come here to feed fish - and we have decided to sacrifice a couple of our bread rolls for a private fish-feeding tour. We rip our rolls into pieces and scatter them across the ocean, raising only the attention of seagulls. The fish are clearly accustomed to a more substantial feed.
Through the afternoon we meander around points and into coves, avoiding those that look like suburbs in the bush. Shags and fur seals bask atop rocks in the intermittent sun, ferries continue to churn by, and water taxis burst in and out of coves. We roll through their wakes, unnoticed by anything except the sea birds and, we hope vainly, dolphins.
As the day nears its end we paddle into camp at Ratimera Bay, one of the sound's true beauty spots. With its long strip of sand, sea the green of eyes, and thick bush hanging off the headlands, it resembles the tropics, even if the weather doesn't.
Through the night rain and wekas keep us awake, but the dawn breaks beautifully still. Mist hovers on the water, slowly rising to reveal a clear blue sky and water as smooth as ice.
We paddle out from Ratimera Bay past a salmon farm, where a host of fur seals appear drunk on this easy, captive feed. Two seals fall in behind the kayaks, tailing us, all but pushing us along with their noses.
In the direction of Picton we hear the fog horns of ship traffic but it's of no concern to us now. We have passed the opening to the Tory Channel, where the ferries funnel away towards the North Island. From here we will virtually have the sound to ourselves. It's just seals, dive-bombing gannets and our two kayaks in a misty paradise.
In the calm of the morning we paddle side by side, enjoying the perfect reflections of each other's kayaks. To our left we pass the opening to Endeavour Inlet, the greatest bight in the Queen Charlotte coast and, with it, the greatest concentration of resorts and baches. Here, you can pull in for a coffee, a meal or a bed, though it's a long paddle in so we continue past, cutting across the sound instead to Blumine Island.
We lunch on the stony shores of the island, watching the weather slowly close in. Blumine is the beginning of an island hop, taking us to Long Island, the country's first marine reserve, and our goal, Motuara Island, where Cook raised the Union Jack. To reach Long Island we must cross 3km of open water and, on cue, the wind whips up as we leave Blumine. With it comes the swell, waves bouncing against the sides of the kayaks, spraying over us. Digging at the water as though my paddle is a shovel, it's both the longest and quickest 3km of our journey.
Once on Motuara Island we beach the kayaks, and climb to its summit and a cairn that marks Cook's grand moment in flag-raising. With it comes a view over the sound across to the North Island, and the noisiness of a forest alive with birdsong. Once a sheep-grazed island, Motuara is now a bird sanctuary. Little blue penguins nest beside the track and South Island robins hop about our feet like excited children.
Motuara Island is the end of the sound - beyond it lies Cook Strait - and we will go no further in this direction. Instead, we paddle across to Cannibal Cove and our final camp. Far beyond any homes, baches, or the reach of water taxis, this beautiful cove is Queen Charlotte's most remote campsite, set in the hollow of two mountains. At night, the glow of Wellington lights the sky to the north, and waves flop down metres from where we sleep.
The next morning we paddle back along the coast to Ship Cove, Cook's original holiday pad, now dominated by an elephantine monument celebrating his stay. The morning is chilly, and it seems only more so when a little blue penguin skims between the kayaks.
When we left Picton 48 hours ago we planned to finish at Ship Cove, the most fitting end to our Cook's tour of sorts. But the explorer has been little more than a sideline to the area's nature on the journey, and we paddle on, content to linger. Between here and Picton we can stop at any number of points and return to town on a water taxi.
Eventually we turn into Endeavour Inlet, followed by the seals that have been our regular companions. The company we'd hoped for - dolphins - has not eventuated.
But then, even as I voice my regret to Jason, there's the answering sight of dolphins ahead in the distance.
Paddling harder, we are suddenly among the sleek creatures which leap about like popcorn, playing around our kayaks yet seemingly oblivious to us at the same time. Two dolphins appear at the nose of my kayak, diving to pass like missiles centimetres below me.
Soon, a water taxi blasts by and the dolphins abandon us, happier to play in the turbulence of the boat's wash. Together they head out into the sound as we are leaving it.
Checklist
Queen Charlotte Sound Kayak Hire: Kayaks can be hired from Marlborough Sounds Adventure Company on the Picton dock; rental costs around $40 per day.
Kayak tours: Guided kayak tours of Queen Charlotte Sound are available with the company and also with Sea Kayaking Adventure Tours in nearby Anakiwa.
