Marlborough Sounds

The Marlborough Sounds (te reo Māori: Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka) are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori mythology, the sounds are the prows of the many sunken waka of Aoraki.

Covering some 4,000 km² (1,500 sq mi) of sounds, islands, and peninsulas, the Marlborough Sounds lie at the South Island's north-easternmost point, between Tasman Bay in the west and Cloudy Bay in the south-east. The almost fractal coastline has 1/10 of the length of New Zealand's coasts.

The steep, wooded hills and small quiet bays of the sounds are sparsely populated, as access is difficult. Many of the small settlements and isolated houses are only accessible by boat. The main large port is Picton on the mainland, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound. It is at the northern terminus of the South Island's main railway and state highway networks. The main small-boat port, Waikawa, is one of New Zealand's largest and provides a base for leisure sailors and vacationers.

The main sounds, other than Queen Charlotte Sound, are Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere and Kenepuru Sound. Havelock is a small port town at the head of Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere. Tory Channel is a major arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, and between them, the Channel and the Sound isolate the hills of Arapaoa Island from the mainland. Other major islands in the sounds include D'Urville Island.

The Sounds are home to the entire breeding population of the rare and vulnerable rough-faced shag (also known as the New Zealand king cormorant) which nests on a small number of rocky islets there. The Department of Conservation manages a total of over 50 reserves in the area.

The sounds were extensively travelled and partly inhabited by Māori groups before the coming of the Europeans, using the sounds as shelter from bad weather and partaking of the rich food sources. Māori were also known to carry their canoes over some stretches of land on portage paths. However, as in most areas of the South Island, populations were smaller than in the North Island.

European history of the area is considered to start with Captain Cook's visit to the sounds in the 1770s, discovering a plant (Cook's scurvy grass) high in vitamin C which helped to cure scurvy amongst his crew. On Motuara Island, Cook also proclaimed British sovereignty over the South Island. Some parts of the sounds also later developed a significant whaling history, and much of the sounds was (thinly) settled by European farmers in the late 19th and early 20th century.^{[citation needed]}

The Marlborough Sounds are connected to Cook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, the North Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passenger ferry service between Picton and Wellington travels through the sounds.