Doubtful sound is the sound south of the more famous Milford Sound on the Southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound is less crowded due to the fact that you have to take a boat across a large lake (30 min), then hop on a bus (where the manapouri power station is located) to the actual sound.
During the drive, our guide told us that all these "sounds" are actually not "sounds" but rather "fjords."
Kim and I had planned to do a 2 day Doubtful Sound kayak tour, but that tour got canceled... so Kim and I signed up for the 1 day tour... which turned out ok, as we got to spend the whole day with our favorite rugby playing Frenchman, "Max." Who we had met in many scenic areas, but finally talked to on the Raikiura Track... which I may not have blogged about yet.
That's our man...
A Kea at the Manapouri Station Visitor Center. Curious birds, some say the smartest bird in the world, and even smarter than monkeys... which means it's probably smarter than many humans... and might take over the human race soon. But they are awesome to watch. On another hike, the ranger told us that the resident Kea's at his hut didn't like getting pics taken with SLRs... and they've learned to bum rush the paparazzi and break the lens with their beak.
Our first view of Doubtful Sound
A weka came to say hi during our instructor's talk.
One of the hundreds of waterfalls in the Doubtful Sound.
Our tour prep talk...
Re-filling our water.
Pretty amazing place to kayak...
And a day in this area isn't complete until you see some sort of rainbow.
And a cold swim...
Max is having fun... though it may not look like it.
Later that night we all met up at the Red Cliff Tavern in Te Anu for drinks and dinner... I highly reccommend the wild hare salad btw.
Farewell for now...
Posts
1 comment:
You've been a bit slack on the NZ posts! How'd you like the Rakiura? See any Kiwis? I didn't - but most people coming off the NW circuit had...Don't forget to do the Tongariro crossing when you head North!
Post a Comment