Cook Strait – David Kotz

New Zealand – Marlborough Sound

A daylong visit to the strait between south and north New Zealand, steeped in history.

We woke to a beautiful morning as we sailed into Cook Strait, the passage between south and north New Zealand. The Heritage Adventurer nestled into the archipelago on the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, a region known as Marlborough Sound. This anchorage gave us an opportunity to spend the day visiting the tiny island of Motuara Island – now a pest-free nature sanctuary – and the nearby Meretoto / Ship Cove, best known as the location where Captain Cook had encamped during his three circumnavigations of the globe. This visit gave us an opportunity to delve deeper into the historic encounters between Europeans and the Māori, and to enjoy the birds, a waterfall, and the beautiful landscape.

North Brother Island Lighthouse at sunrise, in Cook Strait, Marlborough Sound.

New Zealand wrap-up

Our drive up the western side of the north island involved a lot of beautiful green countryside, with rolling hills and sheep pasture like this one.

We completed our tour of the south island with another visit to Blenheim, in the north-east corner [location]. In the morning we quickly toured some of the local vineyards – and it seems there are dozens in this area, known as Marlborough. We found excellent wines at Cloudy Bay, Spy Valley, and Villa Maria. I understand that Villa Maria is readily available in the US. Read on!

Much of the countryside was rolling hills.

The Cook Strait

The Cook Strait separates the North Island from the South, and can be a wild and rough passage.

We drove straight through from Rotorua southward to Wellington, at the southern tip of the North Island; although it was a cloudy and drizzly day I did get some nice photos. We stopped to meet an old friend for dinner, in the little town of Featherston a bit north of Wellington. Read on for our ferry ride across the Cook Strait.