Early Explorers from Queen Charlotte Sound to Akaroa

We celebrate our arrival in Blenheim with a wine tasting and lunch at Brancott Estate restaurant overlooking the vineyards.

In Picton the Tuia 250 flotilla is in port, double-hulled waka and the HMB Endeavour replica are among the vessels commemorating the traditions and culture of the Pacific voyagers and James Cook’s arrival in Ship Cove. 
 

We dine in at The Picton Yacht Club Hotel, our home for three nights.

We visit the "Edwin Fox" sitting in a dry dock in Picton. Built in 1853 it's a massive and fascinating restoration project. Then we take a private discovery cruise out on magnificent Queen Charlotte Sound to Ship Cove near the entrance to the Sound. We lunch at the Cove with plenty of time to explore and soak up the atmosphere at this historic site.

Maori valued Ship Cove's sheltered waters and it’s easy to see why Captain Cook did too, returning four times to drop anchor in this idyllic cove. We cruise back to port in the mid afternoon.

We drive into Blenheim to meet our private guide at Marlborough Museum for insights into the early history of the Wairau Bar Boulder Bank which in 1250 was the home of the first Polynesian settlers.

Later we visit Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre to see Sir Peter Jackson’s collection of World War One and World War Two aircraft and memorabilia.

We return to our hotel and dine in this evening.
 

We drive around the perimeter of Yealands vineyard to enjoy the expansive views to Cook Strait. We call into The Store for lunch before heading down the dramatically changed coastline. 

At Kaikoura the museum tells the story of the earthquake with the "New Normal" exhibition. We meet our guide at historic Fyffe House, a whaler’s cottage built on whale vertebrae, and visit the seal colony nearby. We stay at The White Morph Inn and dine out this evening. 

Continuing down the Kaikoura Coast and across the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch we tour the inner city rebuild zone before continuing to Banks Peninsula.

At Birdlings Flat we visit the Burkes’ gemstone collection found nearby on the beach.

We stay at the Bruce Apartments on the Akaroa waterfront for two nights and dine out this evening.

We sightsee around the peninsula and enjoy the panoramic views along the Summit Road. At Okains Bay the Maori and Colonial Museum has a diverse collection of treasures.

Back in Akaroa Josie Martin’s Giant’s House, a six-star Garden of International Significance, features Josie’s quirky mosaic sculptures, no visit to Akaroa is complete without a visit.

We dine out in Akaroa this evening.

After breakfast at Bully Hayes, named for an early American “pirate” visitor and stroll the village and waterfront where the whaling trypots are a reminder of the whalers that called into the harbour from the 1830s.

We visit Akaroa Museum where exhibits tell the stories of the Ngai Tahu, whalers and French settlers.

Returning over the Peninsula we stop for lunch at Little River on the way to Christchurch airport.