The Tennyson Inlet islands were among the first in New Zealand to be cleared of introduced predators. When this was carried out in the early 1980’s the science of pest eradication was in its infancy and the islands proved to be a great testing ground. Easily accessible from the mainland, the islands offer a range of habitats typical of the Marlborough Sounds.
As the years went on and other Marlborough Sounds islands took the spotlight, the three islands were largely left alone. With a mere 350 meter gap between the closest island and the mainland rats slowly but surely reintroduced themselves and the forest grew quiet once again.
The Tennyson Inlet Islands (Tawhitinui Island in the foreground).
Refusing to let three of last publicly accessible islands in the Marlborough Sounds be overrun by pests, the Tennyson Inlet Islands Trust was formed. Their goal is to remove the pest species and help restore the islands to their natural state. I first became aware of the trust when I kayaked around the islands and stayed at Matai Bay hut in 2019. As soon as I returned from the trip I signed up as a member of the trust.
Awaiti Island, the smallest of the three.
When Beryl Archer from the trust got in touch to see if I was available to photograph the prolifically flowering kohekohe I was immediately keen. After organising a rough plan, we patiently waited for the kohekohe flowering and sea conditions to line up. After a quick meet and greet at Beryl’s place we motored out to the islands for the day.
Beryl anchoring the boat on Tawhitinui Island.
Stepping ashore on Tawhitinui Island the lack of possums was immediately apparent. Although kohekohe exists on the mainland, it’s not common to find an abundance of seedlings like we were seeing on Tawhitinui. We made our way along the ridge to the large kohekohe grove and my jaw dropped. I was expecting a bunch of medium sized trees with a few flowers, like I’d seen before at Cable Bay near Nelson. Instead the trees were gigantic and they were covered from the base of the trunk to the canopy with masses of flowers.
Capturing an image that does justice to what we could see was a real challenge. The dark and dappled light combined with the size of the trees made it near impossible to get the photo I was really after. With Beryl holding my radio controlled flash we were able to get a few shots which lit the flowers, but it still doesn’t compare to the real thing.
Litttle Blue Penguin tracks etched into a rock on Tawhitinui island.
As we made our way back to the boat Beryl showed me something I can honestly say I’ve never seen before. By the shore there was a patch of bedrock with long deep scratches in it. Made by blue penguins over who knows how many years they show the main pathway penguins take onto the island.
On our boat trip back to Penzance we motored around Tarakaipa , the largest of the three islands. Usually seals can be found resting on the rocks, but today none were present. We did however see a great range of seabirds including petrels, gannets and shags.
Beryl Acher explaining their ambitions for the islands.