QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND | MARLBOROUGH | NEW ZEALAND
History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the Mistletoe Bay area was frequented by the early Maori people as far back as the 1400s. Evidence from a number of archaeological sites around the Bay suggests it was a major site for building waka (canoes). Tangata whenua of the area are Te Ati Awa. In the 1820s and 1830s the area was sacked by Kapiti Island based Maori chief Te Rauparaha, whose raids into the Marlborough Sounds are well documented.
The 100 hectares making up the area was previously part of the Onahau-Lochmara Estate and was known as Mistletoe Farm, originally owned by the Gullerie family, whose descendants still live in Picton today.
James Edward Fitzpatrick Vogel and his wife Jocelyn Riddiford purchased Mistletoe Farm in 1947. During their ownership the Vogels, who also owned Vogel House, the official Prime Ministerial residence in Wellington, the Jo House and the manager's house were built. The Jo House was named after Mrs Vogel's abbreviated name and was built to her design. Prior to the houses being built, Mr Vogel spent many hours walking over the property to pick the site with the best view. At the time of building, the large window installed in the manager's house was boasted as being the biggest window in the Sounds.
Following the death of James Vogel in 1971, the family decided to sell the property. It was passed in at auction and responsibility for maintaining the reserve in a satisfactory state passed to the Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board. The Bay was then managed by the Department of Conservation as a recreational reserve until June 2003 when control and management of the campground and Foreshore Reserve was handed over to the Mistletoe Bay Trust. DoC has recently agreed to extend the Trust's tenure indefinitely.
The old cottage, now replaced with the new shared kitchen, was the original farm house and the original whare (removed in 2004) was built as workers' accommodation. When the Vogels bought the property there was no road access and this was constructed during their ownership by a neighbour, Alan Burdekin, as was the breakwater wall which runs from the jetty up to the point where the new whare (cabins) are standing.
The Vogels were philanthropists, and regularly hosted "delinquents" from Wellington and Blenheim for periods which would now be known as community service. Unmarried mothers often spent their confinement at Mistletoe Bay under Jocelyn's care and midwife and house helper Olive Burdekin would be called to attend the births.
Other visitors to the Bay were NZ Governors General including Sir Bernard and Lady Ferguson. They stayed for some days with the Vogels, in the days when it was seen to be "politic" for the governors of the day to vacate their Wellington residences at the time of a NZ general election.
The Vogels were wonderful gardeners and planted the terraces below the manager's house with fruit trees and berries. There was also a market garden which grew the first commercially grown strawberries in Marlborough.
In 2004, the original buildings in the lower reserve were seen to be beyond repair, but had served as memorable accommodation for countless visitors over the years.
When the Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board took over they employed a caretaker and designed and built the water supply system and public toilets. By 1974 the walking tracks had been developed and the bay was much as one finds it today, minus the new whare.
Where's the Mistletoe?
You may wonder where Mistletoe Bay got its name. The bay was named after the parasitic native plant Mistletoe, which grew over many of the large mature native trees close to the old homestead.
The predominant species was Peraxilla Colensoi, a red mistletoe (pictured).
Sadly, the introduction of possums soon saw the demise of this beautiful flowering plant.
When possum numbers have been reduced sufficiently through pest control programmes, we plan to re-introduce the species to Mistletoe Bay.
