The Sound of Silence

Doubtful Sound is NZ second most famous tourist destination. While Milford Sound, at number 1, is said to be more dramatic, Doubtful is longer and deeper. It was named Doubtful Harbor by none other than Captain Cook himself, as he doubted that it was navigable under sail. It was later named Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers, although it is not technically a sound but a fiord. It has three main arms, First, Crooked and Hall, and we navigated all three. It also connect with the Tasmin Sea, and we spent about an hour there looking at seals and penguins. You get there from Queenstown by taking a bus ride for about two hours, then a boat across Lake Manipouri for an hour, then another hardy bus to cross the Wilmot Pass for 45 minutes, and finally you can board the Fiordland Navigator. We elected to do the overnight trip so we had a small cabin on the ship. More like a dorm room really, as the door was a curtain and we shared bathrooms with several other people on our floor—the lowest on the ship. We had two bunk beds, and we both elected the lower bunks, allowing for my many pillow fetish. A small porthole showed us we were just above sea level.

I had been medicating for the past few days to get myself ready for possible seasickness and applied one of my carefully hoarded scopolamine patches the night before the trip. But the Sound was very calm, and when we reached the Tasmin Sea the scenery was so breathtaking, the seals and the penguins so cool, that the rolling didn’t seem to bother me.

Once we got underway, it wasn’t long before the Captain let us know we could choose from one of a few water adventures. One option was kayaking, but it was pretty cold, so Bob and I went for door two, a small motorboat with the nature guide. Dev was a great guide, and knew plenty about the flora and fauna. There really was only one fauna—sandflies. We all doused ourselves with bug repellent as advised before embarking on the small boat, but those flies were committed! I had a small skin area between my sock and my pant leg and those buggers chewed the crap out of me. Dev told us that the gods invented the sandfly so that humans would not build things in Doubtful Sound to maintain its beauty. So I guess everything has an up side.

Doubtful is generally very wet. It gets over 25 feet of rainfall annually and is filled with waterfalls. We had the best of all worlds in that it was sunny, cool and beautiful during our sail, but had just been raining so the waterfalls were everywhere. The road over the Wilmot pass began the spectacular scenery and I sure wouldn’t have wanted to drive that road. Sheer rock face on one side and sheer drop on the other, just spectacular. After we reboarded the ship, and the kayakers all got back on board, several truly hardy souls went in for a swim. Brrrr!

Once everyone was back in the boat, we set a course for the mouth of the Tasmin Sea. As we got closer, the waves got higher, but the view was incredible. We neared a large rock on which several seals were basking in the late afternoon sun, and Dev called out several penguins bouncing around on rocks and diving into the sea. They were so tiny!

We motored back to a quiet cove where the Captain anchored for the night. A terrific buffet dinner was served and we sat with a couple who owned a small NZ sheep farm. The stars came out and the wind got cold on the deck so we headed for our cabin. We got a surprisingly good night’s sleep in our ‘dorm’ room, and I got up at 4:30 because I was told that was when we would be able to hear the kiwi’s on the nearby island. I had the deck to myself and sure enough, I could hear the weird screech of several kiwis. I went back to the cabin to get Bob up, but by the time he got to the deck, they had gone in for their naps. We did get to see a terrific sunrise, though.

Breakfast was a delicious buffet, and the Captain motored us around for awhile. Then he invited us all up on deck in an area of incredible beauty, and told us he was going to stop the engines, and that we should all enjoy complete silence for several minutes. Everyone followed his lead and for about 10 minutes, all we could hear was birds, water lapping up against the ship and the day awakening. Once he turned up the engines and we began to motor to our waiting buses, a school of dolphins escorted us jumping and showing off as we ran from one side of the deck to the other taking their pictures. I bet they think humans are hilarious. We motored through an area so clear that the reflection of the mountains in the water were surreal and it was hard to know where land began and the Sound ended.

As we settled in for the bus, ship, bus ride home, we knew we had chosen the best possible last day in NZ. Tomorrow we will get some laundry done, and start to prepare for our flight to Australia.