Riding the Pelorus Mail Boat – Part Two

There was too much about our cruise on the Pelorus Mail Boat to limit it to one post.

You’ve read the basics of our cruise. We enjoyed it very much. Jim and Fern were wonderful, chatting with the guests and sharing their knowledge and history of the area. They did a great job ensuring we all had a great time.

Pulling into the many jetties along the way seemed to bring differing receptions. There was always the handing over of mail bags and a bit of a chat. Others places required unloading of various supplies as well. More than one point saw Fern digging into a large barrel and offering dog biscuits to our reception committee. Big dogs, little dogs, but most unlikely were the pet pigs who scoffed their dog biscuit with obvious enjoyment.

But enough of ordinary commentary, now for the extras. Extras that one might hope to encounter, but accept you require a certain amount of luck.

The mail boat trip is so much more than a cruise through the many coves and bays of the Sound. While still carrying out similar functions to those for the last hundred years, the mail boat is now also a tourist venture. Jim is passionate about giving his guests a good time.

He did a great job for us. Along the way, he paused at one of the many mussel farms in the Sound to explain how the green tipped mussels are grown. He later found a mussel processing boat and paused long enough for us to watch and understand how these morsels are harvested.

The Wildlife

Alongside this learning experience, he also found us two different pods of dolphins, where both common and dusky dolphins, some with calves, played alongside the boat. We saw a seal in one of the coves, and twice we came upon little blue penguins. Told these are the smallest of all penguins, I was still surprised by their size. To top all this wildlife off, we were able to watch gannets diving for fish as the dolphins frolicked. Talk about a spectacle.

Despite the need to keep to some sort of timetable, Jim appeared happy to spend time tracking down and allowing his guests to enjoy the wildlife. I’m so grateful to have been able to see these in their natural environment.

To top off the cruise, we were then given the opportunity to be dropped at the beginning of a short bush walk and picked up further on 15 minutes later. The bird life in that area of bush appeared prolific if the noise was anything to go by.

If you ever get the chance to experience this mail boat cruise, don’t think twice. You won’t regret the time or the money. The weather need not make any difference to your enjoyment. As Jim and Fern explained, the sights change with the differing weather and the wild life take little notice. “The dolphins don’t care if its raining,” Fern assured us.