Well, Doubtful Sound was quite a trip! Woke up this morning to sheeting rain but somehow in this environment it simply doesn’t matter. After a very satisfactory breakfast with the Dutch people we met last night, we went to the observation lounge and divided our time between cosy, warm observation of the brooding hills and water from inside and the more bracing experience of the outside! We saw a couple of little penguins and a highlight for us was when the boat was taken to the edge of the mountain – no shore here and one of the crew collected water from the waterfall for brave should to try. Then the skipper killed the engine, switched off the generator and asked everybody to be silent to enjoy the total peace – it is hard to explain how wonderful that was – I braved the elements outside (cowardly Nigel was safely in the lounge , note because it was very very wet) and so enjoyed the rain on my face, the roaring of the waterfalls and the sight of the mountains looming through the mist .All my senses were engaged. Nigel and I both agreed that this overnight cruise was one of our holiday highlights. Also we’ve picked up some wonderful hints for the English tourism industry on how to make such a virtue of wet weather, that a nice sunny day seems like the rubbish option!!!
AS soon as we started our coach, lake coach trip back to the lodge in Te Anau the weather picked up and was warm and dry - Doubtful Sound Is one of the wettest places on earth. We spent the rest of the day pottering about at the lodge and deciding how to spend the last couple of days of our NZ odyssey, which will be in Queenstown.
Marion has well expressed the enormity of our trip to Doubtful Sound. The sheer remoteness of it, whether it was the absolute silence, or the complete darkness. This is a completely natural landscape, man’s only influence being the introduction of predators which he is now trying to eradicate. There is also the sense of awe that a sailor from North Yorkshire was first to map and discover these lands all in a converted collier. It is an imperative to read a biography when we return home. A really stunning trip probably like no other we have undertaken.
Tomorrow we are undertaking one of the worlds great drives to MIlford Sound.
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