Doubtful Sound

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Fiordland and Doubtful Sound
November 21, 2008

It was a short leisurely drive from Invercargill with a couple of scenery stops before we rolled into the tiny town of Manapouri and the area of NZ known as Fiordland (that’s how it’s spelled, no “j” in fiord). We had always planned to take a short cruise in the famous Milford Sound, but so many people we have met in NZ have raved about the Doubtful Sound cruise that begins in Manapouri that we decided to check it out before heading north. The only parking we could find was a fair distance from the tour company up a steep hill. Joe tramped down alone while I stayed above. In ten minutes he was back (out of breath) with the news that we were leaving in twenty minutes for the overnight cruise and they had given him a great “last minute” rate. "Last minute" was an understatement to me. We quickly threw some stuff together for the night, locked up the campervan and were off before I could barely realize what was happening.

The first leg of the trip was a 50-minute catamaran ride across the beautiful Lake Manapouri. Then it was a 50-minute bus ride over an alpine pass to meet the boat, the Navigator, and her crew of 9 at Doubtful Sound ( not really a “sound” but a fiord).

Joe and I were pretty impressed with this tour company, “Real Journeys,” the entire day. Everything ran as scheduled, the bus and boats were new and clean, and the crew was efficient, friendly, humorous, and knowledgeable. It was a nice day but the crew and captain kept saying we would all like it better if it rained. We couldn’t imagine this, we thought Doubtful Sound was gorgeous and were reminded somewhat of the Chilean Fjords. We saw water birds, lots of NZ fur seals and about ten Fiordland crested penguins that were new to us. Throughout the day, the captain and the on board naturalist provided excellent commentary on what we were seeing. At 3:30 we were ushered into the dining room for “afternoon soup.” We chose the pumpkin soup and it and the crusty bread that came with it were pretty tasty. Soon it was “activity time.” We could have gone kayaking, but chose instead to take a short trip on a small tender with the naturalist because we had been so impressed with her earlier and we get plenty of kayaking time elsewhere. We felt we made the right choice. A few brave souls went swimming.

The dinner was a gourmet feast of lamp chops, smoked salmon, prime rib, veggies, salads, and six different desserts. As we ate the boat floated in a circle around the mooring, and I felt as if I were in a revolving restaurant. We met interesting people from Denmark and Switzerland. After dinner, the cute naturalist presented a good slide show and we retired to our nice cabin. I can barely keep my eyes open and can’t wait until morning. The sun didn’t go down until almost ten tonight.


Doubtful Sound
November 22, 2008

The captain roused us with the words, “You got your wish, it rained an inch last night.” It continued to gently rain the rest of the morning. The breakfast was a feast and after a couple of cups of coffee we were anxious to see what this rainy morning had to offer. The Navigator crew knew what they were talking about, of course. Doubtful Sound in the rain was incredible! Almost everywhere we looked there were waterfalls pouring off the steep sided mountains. At one point the captain turned off the engine and allowed us to “listen” for a few minutes. The roar of the water was wonderful. We were also mesmerized by the beauty of the mist-shrouded mountains.

Our bus ride back to Lake Manapouri and the boat ride back across the lake were pleasant and by the time we got to the town of Manapouri it was warm and sunny. We drove on a few miles to the hub of Fiordland, the town of Te Anau that is on Lake Te Anau. After a very late lunch (or early dinner) at a café overlooking the lake we took a nice two hour walk around part of the lake to a Nature Center where there were several caged NZ birds.

Our caravan park tonight is right in town, so a peek in the shops was only a short walk away.

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Photos

Fiordland Crested Penguin
Look closely.