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The sheer walls of glacial carved fjords, silence broken only by birdsong, the cascading waters of innumerable waterfalls, leaping dolphins, sun bathing Sea Lions and the world’s smallest penguin – what more could you wish for out of an overnight cruise.

After descending out of the Mount Nicholas mountain range my destination had been Manapouri as I was booked on an overnight cruise that was departing from there the following morning.

When I arrived in Manapouri I checked into Possom Lodge campsite and when I was speaking with the owner she had told me that there was a storm heading in from the South later that night. In the short time that I had been in New Zealand I had learnt that wind from the South came straight from Antarctica and would be icy cold. Instead of camping in a place with a view of the lake the owner had suggested that I would be better tucking my tent into a corner next to a shed and a hedge.

dscn4603 It turned out that this was the best advice that I received that day because at around 2am the storm hit and I woke to my tent being battered by driving wind and rain.  I rearranged my panniers so that one of my bags was in each corner of the tent to try and give it a bit more stability which seemed to help and stop any danger of it taking off with me in it.

As I lay back down trying to get to sleep I felt the drip drip sound of water leaking through the roof of my tent and thought that the worst had happened – my tent fly had ripped in the howling wind.  After inspecting the leak with my torch I could find no tear.  It seemed that the driving rain and howling winds meant that my tent inner was at times touching the outside fly of the tent and water was starting to drip through.  There was only one thing to do – head out into the rain to tighten the straps on the fly.  I put my wet weather gear on over my thermals and headed out into the night.  I was only outside for less than a minute but without the waterproofs would have been soaking by the time I dived back into the tent.

The tightening of the straps on the fly seemed to have worked as there was now a  gap between the fly and the inner even when the tent bent over in the wind.  If I wasn’t tucked away in the corner of the campsite I think that my tent may have blown away with me in it.

The worst of the storm passed after 30 minutes and although it was still raining the winds had now eased and the dripping ceased.  The temperature outside was just above freezing and for the second night running I could see my breadth in the air.  It was time to get back in my cocoon and get some sleep and at least I wasn’t still up at Mavora Lakes as at 700m I’m sure the weather would have been pretty wild up there.

I woke at around 9am and the rain was still falling.  I had to catch the overnight boat out to the Fjords at midday and hoped that the rain stopped so I could pack my tent up otherwise everything would be soaking wet when I got back.

Whilst waiting for it to stop raining I headed to the camp kitchen to make breakfast and to have a hot shower to warm up from another freezing cold night in the tent.

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At 11 am it was still raining and so went in search of the owner of the campsite.  After speaking to her she said that I could leave my bike in her garage, and so instead of packing the tent away I would just leave it draped over the bike to dry out.

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The place that I needed to catch the boat from was Manapouri wharf and there was a pathway from the campsite through a forest area and along the Waiau River.  As it was still raining, and as I only have one pair of trainers with me, I decided to walk the path in my flip flops otherwise my trainers would have been wet and there is nothing worse than having to sit around in wet shoes.  I did look a bit weird when I arrived a the wharf with full rain gear on, wearing flip flops and carrying one of my bike panniers (the only waterproof bag I have with me).

The boat left right on the stoke of midday and there were about 70 of us on board.  The boat that we were on was just a shuttle boat across Lake Manapouri as you couldn’t access Doubtful Sound fjord from this side of the lake.  Once we had crossed the lake there was a 30 minute coach journey over Wilmot Pass to where we would finally get on the cruise boat.

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On the boat there are different classes of accommodation and I was in the cheapest my four berth cabin was down at the bottom of the boat.  The ‘first class’ cabins had windows and patio doors whilst my berth had two twin bunks and a porthole to look out of.  It was a pretty spectacular view though as the porthole was just above the waterline and so when the boat was underway it gave you the feeling of being in a submarine.

The rain that had been falling all morning eventually gave way to sunshine.  This is apparently the best time to see the fjords as all over the sheer cliffs waterfalls had sprung up.

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As the boat headed down into the fjord the views were spectacular and well worth the 270 NZD that I had paid to join the cruise.

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As we headed down the Fjord towards the open ocean we were joined by a school of dolphins who were leaping out of the water on the bow wave of the boat.

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After sailing down the main fjord the boat sailed out into the open ocean.

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Once out of the shelter of the high walls of the fjord we were battered by the freezing southerly winds.

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It was like the boat was caught in a washing machine as the winds, tides and currents all pulled from different directions.

The reason that we had come out into the open ocean was to see the wildlife.  On the rocks in the bay were Sea Lions:

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Seeing them in the wild was pretty special and after about an hour out in the open ocean the boat headed back to the shelter of the fjord.

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On our way back into the fjord we were greeted by the worlds smallest penguin – the Blue Penguin.  As it was so small, they only grow to about 40cm in height, the zoom on my camera and the speed of the boat combined so that I was not able to get a clear shot.

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One we were back into the fjord it was time for afternoon activities.  We had the choice of going kayaking or taking a smaller tender boat out into the sound.  Guess which one I picked?

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After paddling around the fjord for a few kilometers it was time to head back to the boat:

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Here is a very short video to give you a flavour of the view from my kayak:

By the time we got back from kayaking there was just enough time to get a warm shower before a ‘gala’ buffet dinner was served.  The food was pretty amazing after living on noodles and freeze dried food – there was free flow roast beef and lamb with all the trimmings, goulash, lasagne, pasta, salads to name just a few of the dishes on offer.

When dessert was served there was a wide choice of cheesecakes, sponges and hot berry pies all served with cream, custard or ice cream.  There was also a huge cheeseboard which I attacked a few times.  As I was so busy in food heaven I forgot to take any pictures of the spread in front of me but take my word for it that it was a fine fine feast.

The passengers on the boat were a mixture of Australians, New Zealanders and Europeans.  Strangely, there was not one Asian tourist among us and I have no idea why as there are a fair few either living or travelling around New Zealand.

After dinner, most of the passengers headed to the front saloon of the boat as there was a nature movie on offer.  Instead, I joined an eclectic mix of people for a game of card monopoly.  I was first introduced to this game by Tom who was the dive master on a dive boat owned by Wicked Dive in Komodo National Park, and it turns out that Emily, whose Monopoly cards we were playing with, had been introduced to the game by Tom when she had dived with Wicked Dive in Thailand. We really do live in a small world.

The bar stayed open late and by the time that we had finished for the night it was gone 1 am.  The wake up call for breakfast would be at 6.30am so not much sleep was had that night.

In the morning, as promised, we were woken by the sound of the engines being turned on, and at 7 am breakfast was served.  The food and choice was of the same quality as the buffet the night before with all tastes catered for.

It was now time to head up on deck to watch the fjord in the morning sunlight.  If anything it looked even more spectacular than it had done so the day before.
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As we were the first boat down the fjord the surface was like a glass mirror reflecting the landscape above.

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In some of the photos it was hard to decipher whether I was looking at the real landscape or the reflection in the water.

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The photos can only capture a fraction of the magnificent landscape that was in front of us and as we came to teh end of one of the arms of the fjord they turned off the engines of the boat so that we could listen to the sounds of nature within the fjord.  This was a very surreal moment and was a fitting end to our cruise through the fjords.

After that it was time for the boat to make its way back to the mooring at the head of Doubtful Sound where we would catch the coach back over the mountain before transferring onto the ferry which would take us back to the wharf at Manapouri.

I hope that these pictures give you an inckling of what cruising down the fjord was like and if you are ever in the area then I would definitely say to do it rather than taking the 2 hour cruise down Milford Sound.

Once back onshore I headed through the woods to the campsite where I had left my bike the day before.  Thankfully, when I opened the garage and checked my tent had dried out otherwise it would have been a damp nights sleep that night.

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As it was nearly 1pm by the time that I arrived back I decided that I would spend the night there before continuing my journey to the south coast early the next morning.

The trip down Doubtful Sound had been an amazing experience and well worth spending the money on.  My next big expense on this trip will be when I do a sky dive over Fox Glacier in a few weeks time which will be another amazing experience and definitely something to look forward to.

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Doubtful Sound Fjord, New Zealand
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One thought on “Doubtful Sound Fjord, New Zealand

  • November 4, 2016 at 9:44 am
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    Absolutely breathtaking Stewart, keep up the good work.

    Reply

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