(Sorry for the delay in this post, we took this trip a week ago but wanted to share the pictures along with the story. Additionally we have added pictures back to the “My Brain Hurts!” Blog. Enjoy!)
History has it that Captain Cook sailed this way in the late 1700’s, took one look at this spot (Doubtful Sound) in what is now known as Fiordland (note I’m using the Kiwi spelling) and said something to the effect of, “We’re not going in there because it’s doubtful we’ll be able to sail back out!”
He was probably right. Fiordland consists of a series of narrow gorges coming in from the ocean with granite walls of 1000 vertical feet on each side. Carved out over the millennia from glaciers, today they are covered with vegetation tenuously grasping the rock, but the mountainous sides of the fiords are no less imposing than I’m sure Captain Cook felt those several hundred years ago.
In contrast to Captain Cook’s voyage, Ann and I were able to take a lovely overnight cruise on a small trawler operated by Fiordland Expeditions. The package included transportation from near our lodging in Te Anau, across the lake then on a bus down to the fiord where we boarded our boat for a 24 hour fiordland adventure. (Fiordland is not accessible by road, the buses that transport guests were brought in on a barge).
Happy campers about to leave.
Our conveyance. It's a converted ferry and can hold up to 14 overnight guests, but for our trip - only six. Nice.
The boat was crewed by a captain (William-a Kiwi and very experienced skipper) and first mate (Nicholas – a young Frenchman) and had a total of six guests including Ann and myself. The other four were about our age and included a Norwegian, a Scot and two Brits.
The multi-national passenger group (did I mention it was also a bit cold?)
We had a blast!
And it rained a lot! But that meant tons of waterfalls!
It would be impossible to recount the whole trip, but in summary we fished (and caught) blue cod for our six-course dinner supplemented by the lobster that the captain dove for. What a feast! We saw some amazing scenery including seeing fur seals and rare crested penguins and enjoyed great camaraderie that made for an amazingly fun two days. We cruised the fiords, anchored for the night and even though it rained, had a lot of fun.
Heading out to the fiords.
That's a good sign!
We saw fur seals almost hunted to extinction but now making a comeback.
And Crested Penguins...
...quite possibly the highlight of the trip for Ann.
Fishing for dinner...
...and the skipper dove for lobster.
No shortage of lobster for dinner.
The views were amazing...
...waterfalls everywhere...
...and overnight while we slept it snowed...
These walls are so big it's hard to do them justice in a picture.
We're ready to go back!
Boy, do I like this place even better after looking at these pictures and reading your story vs FB. What a special experience. I don’t think it get much better than this. Just, freaking, spectacular.