My New Zealand Jobs

Doubtful Sound

The Doubtful Sound trip was a good bargain for the price (got a winter rate), as it was a 9 hour journey. Doubtful Sound was originally called Doubtful Harbor by early NZ explorer John Cook, who thought it doubtful that he could successfully sail in and out of there due to weather conditions. Some later explorers went in and realized it wasn’t a harbor, and renamed it Doubtful Sound, which of course wasn’t totally right either, since it’s a fiord.

Our trip began with a van picking us up from our accomodation and taking us to the next town, Manapouri. From there, we boarded a small boat and crossed Lake Manapouri, which took over an hour. It was raining at that time, as the forecast called for rain. Te Anau receives about 1 meter of rain a year, and Doubtful Sound 7-8 meters. After crossing the lake, we spent a few minutes at the Visitor Centre before boarding a bus and venturing down into the depths of the Manapouri Power Station. It was at the visitor centre that I learned that this is the first hydro power station to generate power while leaving the nearby lakes (Manapouri and Te Anau) at their natural levels. The debate over this power station a few decades ago raised New Zealand’s consciousness about their environment on a national scale. The people of New Zealand have created many ecological problems over the years, and they have been quite serious in taking care of their country in recent times. Seeing the power generators made me feel like I was in a James Bond movie. Maybe I was.

We again boarded the bus and went up the road mountain pass. The road was created to haul equipment in and out of the area, and looked to be the least costly and quickest way to accomplish that. Instead, it took several years and is the most expensive road per foot in NZ. From the top, we got our first rainy glimpse of Doubtful Sound. After our descent, we boarded a larger boat and began our 3 hour tour, and yes, the weather was a bit rough. We stopped short of the Tasman Sea though, lest we end up on some uncharted desert isle (though Seth’s Isle does have a ring to it). Doubtful Sound is much larger than Milford Sound, with greener mountains and rougher water. It is less touristy though, feeling more like a wilderness. The sun peaked through the rain at one point, creating a nice rainbow that I captured on light-sensitive film. The rain then stopped, and I went to the top deck to observe. It remained cloudy, and so wasn’t very photo worthy, but was still very scenic, especially with all the rain-created waterfalls. We enjoyed a mostly rain free cruise, and were able to dine on tea and biscuits at one point. Once back to shore, we bussed back to the visitor centre, then boated back across Lake Manapouri, which was dark and rainy. Lastly, we hopped back on the shuttle bus back to our hostels. I feel very fortunate to have cruised Milford and Doubtful Sounds, and to not feel rushed when I did so. It’s a real privilege.