Day 30: Doubtful Sound

After a slightly less cold night, due to being wrapped in 3 fleecy blankets and a duvet! I was up and ready for my trip to Doubtful Sound. I have been really looking forward to this trip as I’ve heard such wonderful things about it.

The small coach collected me from the YHA at 8.45, the weather was looking pretty good, some blue skies but it was cold. The coach took us round past Lake Te Anau and then on towards Lake Manapouri, the lakes looked amazing, quite still with the snowy mountains behind and some low lying cloud and mist, very atmospheric.

To get to Doubtful Sound you have to cross Lake Manapouri, traveling down it’s left arm then cross over the Wilmott Pass before arriving at the pretty remote Doubtful Sound.

While I waited to board the boat to cross the lake I watched a large group of older guys loading up a whole heap of stuff, cases, boxes, food, a ton of cool boxes and other assorted items. Turns out they are going on a week long fishing trip, with rather a lot of Beer!! 😂😂

The Trip across the lake takes approx 50mins, at nearly 40 knots! The views were again absolutely gorgeous, the sun was shining on the mountains in the distance, the lake was calm, the clouds were lifting and all was good!! I spent most of the time outside either taking pictures or just soaking up the views. Once we arrived at the other side of the Lake we boarded 2 coaches that would then take us up and over the Wilmott Pass, the only route to get to the sound and built in the 1920s but was updated and maintained in the 1960-70s to enable the transportation of equipment needed to build the Hydroelectric Dam on Lake Manapouri, it is now looked after by the tour companies that use it. The tour companies have to pay a tax for each person they transport, which is then used to help the conservation of the area, which is a superb idea. It is a fairly short but very steep pass cutting through forests and mountains. The forest is dense, with lots of ferns and moss, waterfalls, which can get very large during heavy rain. Then you arrive at the Sound, stunning!!

The journey on Doubtful Sound took 3hrs. It is a huge Fiord, several times larger than Milford Sound with lots of arms heading of it and at least 2 entrances to the Tasman Sea.

I honestly don’t  know how to describe this place, it is beyond stunning, once again huge towering granite cliffs soar above it with waterfalls, trees, birds, there are islands dotted about, large and small which offer shelter from the winds that whistle down the sound. The colours of the sky and the water are beautiful. Seeing the snowy mountains reflected in the water is awesome. We headed out to the mouth of the sound and the Tasman Sea, which looked very dark and brooding. We saw lots of fur seals resting on a large rock in the mouth, and I also watched one poor thing struggling to get out of the sea and onto the rocks!

When we headed back into the sound the wind stepped up a fair bit and the captain took us down Crooked Arm (an arm of the main body of the sound) as soon as we entered it the wind dropped, the lake surface calmed and then we stopped and turned of all the engines and sat there in total silence for 5 minutes. It was awe inspiring, moving and totally magical.

I have a friend, Tom, who’s mum did this same trip and during the silence she experienced something incredibly powerful and spiritual and from there she went on to become a Vicar. I can completely understand how that could happen, even though I’m an atheist. This place is so powerful and really very spiritual.

Todays Trip is another staggeringly beautiful, wonderful experience, one that I shall treasure.

The pictures are amazing but can’t capture the extent of the beauty.

Put this on your bucket lists!!

Today I am mostly chilling in the hostel, before heading back to Queenstown. Fiordland has been everything and more than I could have ever hoped for, Thank you.

Kia Ora from a very blessed me.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Author: hereandthereclaire

Hi, my name is Claire and I am 60 years young, welcome to my blog. I am new to the whole travel and blog writing world, so no judging! I recently made some big life changes, leaving my job in education and moving myself and my younger children to Newquay in Cornwall, I then started a business with some fantastic friends #coffeeonthecornernewquay. And now I am about to embark on my first big travel adventure...I would love to share this with you. Since starting this blog in 2018 I have made more changes, and now in 2024 I will be traveling full time for the next year! Please join me in sharing my Big Adventure! ❤️ View all posts by hereandthereclaire