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December 2010

Our time in the small village of Havelock was fun from beginning to end. We stayed with a great couple, Philippa and Chris Harvey, at their very comfortable ‘Channel Lights B&B’ set right above the tiny port where we could sit back in our armchairs and watch all the comings and goings of the port. 

Havelock is a very small port at the very end of Pelorus Sound.  It is most famous for its green lipped mussels but it also has salmon farms and pine plantations. The Sound is formed by drowned rivers and is a wonderful maze of steep hills surrounding many indents and coves.  We had a wonderful exploration of this Sound with Chris on his boat the ‘Clova Belle’. Chris's family were pioneers in this area generations ago and he was brought up in the Sound - going to town only once a year for the annual Agricultural Show. He has so many stories tell and is indeed a great story teller.
 
We found the Sound is a haven for many water birds such as Royal (black billed) Spoonbills, Spotted Cormorants, Little Penguins and, my favourite bird here, the buff headed Australasian Gannets. 
 
There are three gannet species worldwide, all with adults very similar in appearance. The juveniles of the three species are indistinguishable. There’s a North Atlantic gannet (Morus bassanus), an African Cape gannet (Morus capensis) which we have seen on the west coast of South Africa,and this one, the Australasian gannet (Morus serrator) which is found in Australian and New Zealand waters. These birds are related to, but not the same as, the boobies of the Galapagos.
 
On our day in the Pelorus Sound with Chris, we also saw Dusky Dolphins, a small blunt nosed dolphin with white stripes down the side. Their arch enemies, the Orca or Killer Whales had been seen in the Sound that day, but we missed them.
 
Areas of the hillside that once were dairy farms have, over the last forty years, reverted to native forest. But many areas have been planted with pine trees and we were able to watch some clear felling in progress. Many of the logs are taken to China where they are turned into wood pallets to be used to transport Chinese made goods such a silk flowers and china etc back to Australia.  Once a plantation is cut down, it must be replanted immediately or the owner must pay the Government the tax of $17,000 per hectare to cover carbon tax.
 
We had a short walk on land when we called to see Chris’s ‘bach’. That's what New Zealanders call a small holiday cottage. Chris and Philippa are building this one to use and to rent out.

Salmon farming is beginning to take off as an industry in the Sound but by far the most productive and important industry is green lip mussel farming.  We watched a couple of groups of workers on their barges as they tended the clumps of mussels growing on long lengths of rope suspended in the water beneath bouys.  Many of the mussels we saw were still too small for harvest but one group was being harvested. Chris is so well known in these waters that we were given permission to harvest some for our own dinner. And they were DELICIOUS!

Philippa had invited two other friends for dinner and we had a very merry time, gorging ourselves on the sweetest mussels I have ever tasted. As if that wasn’t enough, she then produced a wonderful roast dinner – roast venison and roast wild boar – with vegies from her own garden. That was followed by freshly picked blackberries.  A locally produced, fresh meal if ever there was one.  If you want a good time on the water and you want great accommodation and a fabulous feed – just call in to Havelock and stay awhile with Chris and Philippa. We recommend it!!!!

Jennie and David