Somewhere, over the rainbow...

Ooooh what a night, a comfy night! We’re so glad we weren’t in the tent – and feel very sorry for those who were as it rained, it blew, it rained some more – not nice.
This morning it seems to have blown itself out – well, almost. The area we’re in has over 3 metres of rain a year, so we weren’t surprised at last nights offering. Mind you, Doubtful Sound has 8.7 metres each year – 200+ days with rain..hmmm, looks like the trip will be a wet one then! We didn’t really expect anything else – The Fjordland National Park is facing the prevailing westerly winds, and we are a very long way south now.
Anyway, back to the rainbow. As we drove the 20km from Te Anau to Manapouri, where we were was bright and sunny, across the lake there were big black clouds, and in between? ..the most beautiful rainbow! It almost looked like we were driving under it to the other side! So, arriving at Manapouri we find the right jetty, book in and find they have their own free car park – bonus! We also collected our pre-ordered packed lunch (these were part of the trip.) Very scrummy they were too, except there was enough for two in each of them! We didn’t scoff the lot – we’ll save the left overs for lunch tomorrow.
Our journey starts with a 1 hour fast launch ride across Lake Manapouri to West Arm – at the far end of the Lake, where they have one of the biggest Hydro Power set ups we’ve seen (Hoover Dam being possibly bigger but we’re not sure!). The system uses water from 2 lakes, and discharges into Deep Cove, Doubtful Sound – in the process producing 14% of NZ’s electricity.
At West Arm, we transfer to two coaches dodging the sand flies (enormous great black midges the size of a pin head with a bite like a hypodermic needle, and that’s just the female ones!) and then, on the ubiquitous gravel tracks, go over Wilmott Pass for about 40 mins. In most places, the road is barely wider than the coach – how it got round some of the bends, we’re not quite sure – front and back of the coach were hanging over the edge at several points (though mercifully not at the same time!!) There were, of course, no crash barriers, and it is, apparently one of the highest gravel roads in NZ. It was also the most expensive to construct being 13 months overdue of the original estimate of 11 months, and costing 2$ per centimetre!! (It’s 21km long!) Something to do with having to barge in all the equipment, men and materials we suspect ! That and the appalling weather which they had apparently failed to take into account!! Der! However, as this trip was a 3 day walk before the road was built, we didn’t mind the overrun!
So, we’re now at Deep Cove, where the Fjordland Navigator is waiting for us. Having just eaten an enormous lunch, we’re shown to the main saloon (yep, there is a bar, but that’s not it’s main purpose!) and plied with Tea, coffee, and huge homemade muffins...this sets the tone for the rest of the trip – I’m sure we’ve both put on several pounds. We could never do a longer cruise – we’d have nothing left to wear! I know we didn’t have to eat them, but...
So, we set sail (there are sails, but in this instance they started the engines, as we were travelling towards the prevailing winds – there’s not much room to tack in a fjord! We were shown our cabin, and left to our own devices for the next two hours. Tea and coffee were “ on tap”, so we could help ourselves whenever we wanted. I don’t think either of us bothered..the scenery was so stunning. Yes, it was raining, yes it was cloudy, but that’s Fjordland, and these incredible granite walls stretching up to the sky, covered in rain forest trees, ferns and mosses were spellbinding.
We were treated to the sight of a small pod of dolphin bow wave riding the boat within 10 mins of leaving the quayside! I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with another dolphin pic, as we managed to catch one as it turned a full 360⁰ somersault beside us!!
We travelled down the full length of the sound, coming out into the Tasman Sea..now, this is where the fun started. Because all the ships owned by this company have to be able to do any of their runs, and Milford Sound is very shallow (2 metres in places at low tide), the Fjordland Navigator has a very shallow draft – she’s built like a Scow, for those who understand these things, but unlike a Scow, she has no keel she can drop when needed. You can imagine how much she wallowed around when she hit the open sea! M was beginning to seriously regret the muffin! We went out here to see NZ fur seals...we don’t need to come out here...we’ve seen them before! OK, on the east coast, and not as close for sure...but...
Fortunately the Capt was also aware of the swell that was running, and after a mercifully SHORT spell with the seals we retreated into the calmer waters of the sound, this time with the sails up as well.
Why is it called Doubtful Sound? Like many places here it was named by a certain Lt James Cook..he took one look at it and decided that whilst he could get into it very easily, and it was a safe haven, it was also almost impossible to sail out of, the Easterly wind he would have needed blowing only about once a month! It was therefore of very doubtful use. The rocks above the water line and the islands are, in fact, the remnants of the terminal moraines from the glaciers which formed these fjords, so Cook should really have called it “Doubtful Fjord” as a sound is a river formed valley rather than a glacier formed one, but we won’t split hairs!
Having been up on deck for 3 hours we were all thoroughly chilled, so, as requested, returned to the saloon...more food in the form of hot soup and rolls! We then moved into a quieter part of the fjord known as Precipice Cove. Here we had the choice of going out in the Navigator’s tender craft, kayaking, or swimming. As the water was only about 10⁰ swimming was decided against by us both. Ron had got quite cold standing outside taking photos, so he opted for the tender craft. M being the usual loony went kayaking – well it had to be done! Ron was, of course, then in a position to record M’s lunacy..but for some reason he took MY camera out in the boat, not his! Huh!
Fortunately we’d both taken things we didn’t mind getting wet to wear, as the kayaks had no spray decks (M very careful not to tip it around then as she didn’t want an involuntary swim) but she got soaked anyway as it was raining all the time. However she also got the most amazing view of the fjord vegetation and waterfalls close up. It was also blissfully quiet and peaceful away from the boats engines. We kayaked about 3km around the boat, then returned before we froze! The only technical hitch was trying to get out of the kayak on the water with wonky knees –a difficult enough process when it’s beached!
Back on board, dried, changed..we were being fed again! A very pleasant 3 course dinner – see what we mean?
Ron dressed for dinner. He put the lower part of his zip off trousers back on and changed his shirt! After supper, stuffed, we had an interesting talk from the ships nature officer before R beat M once again at Scrabble before retiring to a very comfy bed! (or rather 2 very comfy beds )
I really wish I hadn’t bought him the travel version of Scrabble for Christmas, I’m fed up with being thrashed every time!