Day 26: Queenstown to Doubtful Sound

Friday, Mar 2nd

Today our ventures took us to Fiordland National Park a World Heritage Area in southwest New Zealand. The area is physically protected by the fact that there are no roads into the park. As you will see, traveling into the park is a multi-phase transportation task.

We began with a pick-up at the Hotel St. Moritz and transport phase #1 of 7 for the day. By the 3 PM we had been transported in the following ways:

1. Van to the Real Journeys Travel Center in Queenstown
2. Bus to Kingston
3. Train ride on The Kingston Flyer Vintage Steam Train
4. Bus to Manapouri
5. Fast ferry across Lake Manapouri
6. Bus across Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound
7. Fiordland Navigator on Doubtful Sound.

The departure from Queenstown took us past the airport and along the southern arm of Lake Wakatipu in a westerly direction. The large motor coach we had for travel was only half full so everyone had windows or entire rows for that matter. We passed through New Zealand farmland seeing tens of thousands of sheep and a fair number of cattle and deer ranches as well. The south island of New Zealand is clearly an agricultural center. One million New Zealanders, about 25% of the country’s population, populate the island. We stopped at the small village of Kingston where Sheila and I boarded The Kingston Flyer for a 30-minute train ride through the countryside. At the last train station we reboarded our tour bus continuing on through Mossburn and into Manapouri. There we boarded a large power catamaran for a ride across Lake Manapouri arriving at the west end of the lake. From there we boarded another bus for the climb over Wilmot Pass then dropping down to Deep Cove, the easternmost point of Doubtful Sound. Along the way across the pass we stopped at various vantage points for high elevation views of our destination.

At Deep Cove we boarded the Fiordland Navigator, along with about 40 other passengers for our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound. Having declined the lower deck four-person bunkrooms, we were shown to our upper deck staterooms. Maybe not as large as The Four Seasons or even the Hotel St. Moritz, but spacious enough for the few hours we would be using them.

Once underway, we traversed Doubtful Sound from east to west. The afternoon’s activities included a recreation stop for kayaking, power boating and for a few of the younger folks aboard, swimming in the 58^o F water.

During the afternoon we saw at a distance, two Blue Penguins and several pods of bottle nosed dolphin. The dolphins were surfing the ship’s bow wave and stern wake, leaping and rolling along the way. We continued west in the sound ultimately arriving at the Tasman Sea where we circled several islands inhabited by hundreds of New Zealand fur seals.

Once back inside the sound Captain Ray found a favorable mooring and quickly hooked up to the ball and settled the ship in for a peaceful night. As a note, Captain Ray apparently didn’t need assistance from former navy officers; nevertheless, we were ready, willing and able to assist had we been called upon.

The crew prepared a nice dinner for the passengers, including salads, chicken, veggies, salmon, roast beef and lamb followed by desserts and cheeses.

After dinner the ship’s naturalist offered a presentation on the history of Doubtful Sound as well as information on the local flora and fauna. We had a relatively clear night so the star watchers were out briefly, many in search of the Southern Cross.