Doubtful Sound part 1

27 April 2011

I just returned from spending the night on a boat in the Doubtful Sound.  What an amazing place.  And not only an amazing place, but a fabulous experience.  

The shuttle from Real Journeys picked me up in Te Anau and drove me out to Manapouri where we picked up a Real Journeys’ boat to the Manapouri power station.  This boat took us across Lake Manapouri, which is almost as beautiful as Doubtful Sound.  It is surrounded by mountains towering above it.  To top it all off it was a gorgeous, blue skied day.  A little bit chilly, but so beautiful.

When we all stuffed ourselves onto the small boat, I was looking for a place to sit and found two ladies sitting with their backs to me and no one across from them.  I went to sit across from them and it turned out that one of the ladies was Rosie.  Rosie is the lady who my friend Jess worked for here in Te Anau.  So immediately I had a friend to chat with.  She introduced me to her friend.

Rosie has done the overnight trip twice before so her excitement for it got me even more excited.  Doing this trip was a dream coming true.  

We transfered from the boat to two coaches that drove us over the Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound.  Yeah, it’s that remote.  We loaded the boat and enjoyed cruising along the fiord.  Eventually we stopped and did water activities.  We could choose between kayaking, speed boating, and then we could also go swimming.

I chose to go kayaking, which was a first for me!  I was super nervous about it and the guides didn’t give us any tips on how to kayak.  Another guest on the ship was kind enough to give me some help.  I ended up at almost the end of the pack of kayakers.  I just kept zigzagging!  When one of the guides asked me if I was alright, I said I wasn’t very good.  His response was, “Well, you haven’t fallen in the water yet so you’re doing okay!”  So that was their standard, huh?