“A very snug cove”, that’s how one person described Ship Cove, one of the many bays that make up Marlborough Sounds. Standing on the pebbly beach and staring out into the sparkling waters I couldn’t agree more. This was a very snug cove and the perfect place for the 71km Queen Charlotte Track to begin. In fact the person who said this would have been the ideal bushwalking buddy as he adored the area. But that was impossible because his name was Captain James Cook and he was here about 240 years before I was.
Cook found Marlborough Sounds so agreeable he visited Ship Cove five times between 1770 and 1777 during his expeditions to map the Pacific. There’s a lovely memorial for Cook at the start of the track, which my companions and I visited
