61 Days of Togetherness: Doubtful Sound

Sorry for the time lapse since our last posting. We have been having some technical difficulties, but hopefully, we are back on track now.

We checked off one more iconic Fiordland outing with a trip to Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound was named several centuries back by none other than Captain James Cook. You will have to check Wikipedia for an exact date on that. Cook could have readily sailed into the sound, but was doubtful that he could have subsequently sailed out against the prevailing winds with his type of square sailed ship. Consequently, he never entered the sound. Suffice to say that the Morton family intrepidly ventured where Captain Cook dared not enter.

I was dubious about the trip. It involved little more than forking over your credit card and then sitting back comfortably for the balance of the day while taking in the scenery. No backpack, no sandflies, no human suffering! Where is the fun in that?

The trip starts from the town of Manapouri where one gets on a first boat across Lake Manapouri. Leg 2 of the journey involves taking a “luxury cruiser” over Wilmot Pass and down to Doubtful Sound. Do not make the mistake of confusing luxury cruiser with a mere bus. Once in Doubtful Sound, you board a second larger and fancier ship for Leg 3, a 60 km roundtrip journey out through the sound to the Tasman Sea. Legs 4 and 5 are return ~~bus~~ luxury cruiser trip and Manapouri lake crossings.

We added an unforeseen bonus segment due to a scheduling error. We thought our reservation was for Thursday, but they had us down for the next day. We improvised and signed up for an afternoon/evening cruise later that same day as plan B. That turned out to be a good move on several fronts. First of all it gave us a chance for a short mid-morning hike on a segment of the Kepler Track (another of New Zealand’s Great Walks), although we did not have time to incorporate any human misery on the Track (no heavy packs, no sandflies, no exhaustion). Second, we went from a fully booked trip to one with just a handful of sightseers. It made for a more peaceful journey.

Doubtful Sound was a good trip. We saw some dramatic vistas, learned some local history and lore, and saw bottlenose dolphins and fur seals. We were denied in our quest for a sighting of the elusive little blue penguins - maybe next time. Walter liked standing in the bow, leaning into the wind – Titanic-style. Of course, he wanted to do it backwards which we put the kibosh on.

Here are some shots from the day.

Lucas and Walter from near Wilmot Pass with Doubtful Sound in the background. Get those boys some caffeinated soft drinks stat!