an adventure (in grace).: Doubtful Sound

Monday, 17 November

This morning we said good-bye to Fiona and Peter. Peter and Fiona, if you're reading this: THANK YOU! I so loved spending time with you both and had a ton of fun with you. You guys are awesome - I hope to see you someday soon in Cambodia ;)

Fiona dropped us off at the bus station, and we were picked up soon after by the Real Journeys bus - the company that would take us to Fiordland. Below you can see Fiordland National Park highlighted in dark blue. The area is remote, rugged and largely untouched. The only road that goes through is highlighted in red.

Passed lots of sheep and cows on the way.

The bus took us straight to Manapouri, where we boarded a smaller boat to cross Lake Manapouri - took just over an hour. It was pretty cold and windy!

The boat took us to another bus, and we crossed the most expensive road in New Zealand. I think they said it costs $1 per cm... and a lot to maintain as it's so far from anything and is pretty much just used to bring tourists to Doubtful Sound. There's a hydroelectric dam built nearby and the road was originally built to help transport materials to build that.

View of Doubtful Sound from above.

Once there, we boarded our boat, which we stayed on over night. The weather was a bit rainy at first, but cleared up quite well (as much as we could as for in a place that gets rain 200/360 days a year!) and could see the massive glacial-formed mountains, gorges, cliffs and waterfalls all around us.

Saw lots of seals, a couple penguins, and even a few dolphins!

Did a bit of leisurely kayaking and then took a jump into the freezing cold water. Felt my breath leave me for a second!

Warmed up with some hot soup and a very nice buffet dinner. I think the very sweet, modest Japanese couple across the table from me were wondering how I could fit all that food into one little body... haha. Guess my metabolism is running as though I'm still biking! ;)

Tuesday, 18 November

Woke up to this!

Towards the end of the morning, the skipper stopped the boat at the end of one of the "arms" that extend off of the main fiord. He asked that everyone go outside to the deck, turn of their cameras and phones, and refrain from walking. He then turned off the boat, and for a full 5 minutes we all looked around us in silence. This was an incredible experience and remains a special memory. It was a privilege to stand there in utter awe of the beauty around me and thank God for yet another gift my eyes can't soak in enough of and my mind can't fully comprehend.

One of the crew members took a bucket up to the front of the boat as the boat went in to a waterfall pouring over a cliff and he filled up the bucket with fresh mountain water. It was clean and cold and tasted fresh!