Cable Bay - Rotokura

Cable Bay has an interesting history

The Bay was once the southern terminus of the London-to-New Zealand telegraph cable. Now, in summer it is popular for swimming, kayaking, fishing and diving. This is a Windsurfing location, the wind funnels between the mainland and Pepin Island; fun for intermediates upwards. At Cable Bay Adventure Park, there are a variety of activities including the SKYWIRE EXPERIENCE.
The Cable Bay Walkway to the south leads to the Glen on the Nelson side of the hills. To do this you will need to arrange return transport.

Listen to the Audioguide for more...

There are not many short drives to the north of Nelson that don’t involve the steep climbs of the Whangamoa Ranges, or the winding roads of the Marlborough Sounds. But just twenty minutes’ easy drive north of the city, Cable Bay lies quietly on the coast between high hills, backed by a rocky boulder bank separating it from beautiful Delaware Bay. Just eight kilometres from the main road, its narrow winding access road curls through a steep-sided valley to the sea - sealed all the way for an easy drive.
Mountainous farm land, muddy cattle tracks and thick native bush are typical of the area. As you arrive at Cable Bay today, it’s hard to imagine that, during the forty years from 1876, it was a bustling little village surrounded by native forest and only easily reached by sea. It was also the southern terminus of the London-to-New Zealand telegraph cable. This final section of undersea cable ran from Sydney and enabled messages to arrive in New Zealand from England in just four days, instead of the previous six months by ship.
At that time, Cable Bay was home to the thirty workers needed to run the cable company, the telegraph station and a small press agency. All the news wired to New Zealand arrived through Cable Bay before being transmitted throughout the country. No trace remains now of the large two-storeyed colonial homes, their many outbuildings and the neat picket fences that surrounded them.
Today Cable Bay is a quiet spot, popular in summer for swimming, kayaking, fishing and diving. The Cable Bay Walkway offers an energetic climb to the hills high above the bay and, if you organise return transport, you can complete the steep three and a half hour walk all the way through to the Glen, on the Nelson side of the hills.
Down at sea level, the Horoirangi Marine Reserve follows the rocky coastline between the Glen and Cable Bay, protecting a stretch of sea that’s particularly rich in marine life.
In an interesting twist, modern-day communications have landed back on Cable Bay’s shores with the recent laying of a 200-kilometre-long fibre-optic cable from Hokio Beach, near Levin in the North Island. Although this cable doesn’t require a village of workers to maintain it, as the old one did, it still supplies a valuable alternative link to the Cook Strait cable that currently connects the two islands.

Cable Bay from Maori Pah by John Gully

Image Credits: Te Pania Noonan and NZPlaces