Doubtful Sounds–A Special Journey

A cold morning for our well anticipated all day trip to Doubtful Sound and the Manapouri Power Station.   The weather was one out of the box, starting with low cloud and mist with the promise of a sunny day to follow.   We headed down to Pearl Harbour at Manapouri where we were to board their brand new boat the MV Titiroa.We settled in for the 1 hour  journey across Lake Manapouri to West Arm with low mist giving a spooky atmosphere to the Lake on the way.

On our arrival at West Arm we boarded the waiting buses for the 40 minute journey across the 670m high Wilmot Pass on a private road funded and maintained by users of the road.  Spectacular views as we crested the summit and descended into the now clear skied Doubtful Sound.

                                             View  From The Summit 

Our next boat the MV Patea Explorer awaited our arrival, another well appointed and reasonably new vessel similar to the first one.   We set sail for the 3 hour cruise on Doubtful Sound in perfect weather .   The boat has a reasonably priced snack bar on board and complimentary tea and coffee on the trip

More Great Scenery

We were advised to keep an eye out for wildlife as we cruised along listening to informative commentary from the on board Nature Guide.  

Our first sighting was a small blue penguin followed shortly after by a yellow crested penguin,   it seemed like our luck on this trip was holding!    Bottlenose dolphins were next, not something that is seen on every trip.   We carried on through the sound past secretary Island (an impressive piece of land that rose  40cm in the last earthquake in this area) until we reached open sea watching the antics of the Southern Albatross following the boat and due to the calm conditions were able to proceed all the way to the Seal colony on Nee Island.

Heading back towards Deep Cove with a couple of side trips including Crooked Arm we were again delighted by a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins.

Cavorting Dolphins

We arrived back into Deep Cove for the Bus Journey across Wilmott Pass again to West Arm.   This is the bus that will take us 2 km underground to the Manapouri Power Station.