Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound and the story of Tōtaranui

Meretoto/Ship Cove sits near the open, northern end of Queen Charlotte Sound, a small bay of calm water under steep coastal forest. The only way in is by boat, either your own or a commercial cruise from Picton.¹ Bird song fills the bush behind the beach, and DOC notes that more than 125 years of protection have left the setting largely as Cook would have found it, apart from paths, panels and toilets for visitors.⁷

Ashore you find a memorial, information panels on the cove's past, a short bush walk to a waterfall and a picnic table shaped like a waka.⁸ The Waterfall Track is about 40 min return through the forest and makes a good leg-stretch while a boat waits.⁹ Camping is not allowed in the cove, though there are toilets, and the Queen Charlotte Track begins in the cove for anyone walking south.^10,11

Look closely at the monuments. Memorials to Cook were raised in 1913 and 1920, and in recent years three pouwhenua have been added that depict Kupe and the local tribes.¹² The carved bollards at the bridge represent the iwi of the area, and one carved pou tells of Kupe and the giant wheke, the octopus of the legend.^13,14 Together they turn a European memorial site into a place where both histories stand side by side.

James Cook sailed the Endeavour into Meretoto on 15 January 1770, a few months after landing at Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay with a crew of 94.^17,29 He came back again and again: the official track site and Destination Marlborough both count five visits between 1770 and 1777.^18,27 It was here that sustained contact between Māori and Europeans first took hold, with iron tools, fish hooks, vegetables and animals changing hands.^38,39

How long did he stay? DOC says Cook spent 170 of his 328 days in New Zealand at Ship Cove, while Destination Marlborough's heritage page gives 105 days in the cove, so the two official sources count differently.^4,27 Either way it was his main base. DOC adds that it is the only place he visited on all three voyages, one of only two such sites in the South Island, and the only anchorage of his last voyage.⁴

The cove fed and healed his crews. Cook found a plant there now called Cook's scurvy grass, a source of vitamin C against scurvy.⁴⁰ Joseph Banks, the naturalist on the first voyage, wrote of waking to a dawn chorus he likened to small bells.^41,42 DOC describes the frequent meetings at Meretoto as laying the ground for the country's bicultural heritage, a weight that is easy to feel when you stand on the quiet beach today.⁴³

Opposite the cove lies Motuara Island, about 32 km from Picton by boat.³⁰ Rats were eradicated in 1992, and DOC has since moved saddleback, South Island robin, yellow-crowned parakeet and the Maud Island frog onto it.³⁷ The island also serves as a crèche for rowi, a rare kiwi whose chicks grow up here before going home.⁶⁰ DOC counts fewer than 500 rowi left, and chicks return to the wild once they weigh 1 kg.⁶¹

A short path climbs from the jetty. The Motuara Island Lookout Track is 1.6 km return and about 40 min, passing a bird viewing station about 5 minutes from the jetty and Cook's Cairn near the 128 m summit.^31,32 At the island's southern tip, the smaller Hippa Island once held a Māori pā built before Europeans arrived.⁶² Check your bags and shoes for seeds and stowaway pests before you step ashore, as the island's birds depend on it staying free of predators.

The island's recovery is recent. Around the start of the 20th century Motuara was burned off and grazed by sheep, then used for an experimental Angora goat farm.⁶³ Destination Marlborough records it as a reserve from 1920, and DOC says the forest has regenerated over the last 70 years without replanting.^64,65 The South Island saddleback arrived in 2009, descended from 36 birds rescued in 1964.⁶⁶

Most visitors arrive on a cruise from Picton. The listing this page books, a Marlborough Sounds and Ship Cove cruise, spends about 3 hours on the water, is guided in English, and is priced from $86. Its boat varies with numbers, from a small single-hull vessel to a two-deck catamaran. Free cancellation is possible up to 24 hours ahead, which helps when the forecast turns and you want to move the trip to a calmer day.

If you would rather walk, take a boat out and follow the track's opening leg to Resolution Bay, 4.5 km that DOC times at about 2 hr, with a saddle lookout after 50 minutes.^36,68 Some trips add a landing on Motuara Island, such as the sanctuary and dolphin cruise from Picton that includes a guided walk on the island. Pack water, a light jacket and insect repellent; there are toilets but no shop or café.

Respect matters here. The site is protected, the carvings carry iwi meaning, and DOC asks visitors to leave all wildlife undisturbed and to use a zoom lens rather than get close.⁵⁵ Do not feed the weka or the birds on Motuara, since human food can make native birds sick.⁶⁹ Take every scrap of rubbish back to Picton, keep voices low near the carvings, and leave the cove as quiet as you found it.