The Hillbilly Kiwi: Wakey Wakey on the Water

We've been a wee bit out of touch the last couple of weeks, as we've had company and been running all over creation! Yay to the brave souls who venture to make the never-ending journey to the bottom of the world, just to come out and play with us.

First adventure I'll share was the cruise we did in Doubtful Sound.

Doubtful Sound is more difficult to get to than it's more widely known cousin Milford Sound. You start at Lake Manapouri where a 1 hour boat ride lets you out on the other side, then a 45 minute bus ride takes you over Wilmot Pass (above) to drop you at the dock at Deep Cove.

There, you board a lovely 3 mast ship that meanders through several of the Sound's arms, and goes all the way out into the Tasman Sea.

I think Milford must be more widely known than Doubtful just because it's easier to get to, because truly, it can't possibly get much prettier than this.

The story has it that when Captain Cook first spotted it, he called it Doubtful because he was doubtful that he'd get back out.

The sheer faces plunge into the water to depths as low as the peaks are high.

The highest peak on this sound is around 1100 meters tall.

For scale, note the tiny white speck between where the two mountains touch the water in the center of this pic. That is a tour boat. Also note the waterfalls coming off the side. I lost count at around 50.

This is our lovely little schooner. Sans sails. The water looks black because of tannins that wash off the mountainsides, and because of the light refraction. There is SO much rain in the Fiordlands, that the seawater is topped off with anywhere between 3 and 9 METERS of freshwater on top of the saltwater.

There was some of this.

And some of this. Yes, I jumped in. Yes, it is quite cold. But the gorgeous soups waiting in the galley cured that quickly.

Approaching the Tasman.

The Tasman Sea is square into the Roaring 40s.

The boat feels like a roller coaster.

The waves pound against the rocks that guard the entrance to the Sound while the sea lions bask in the sunlight, completely unperturbed by us or the sea spray.

Albatross and Mollymawks skim the water looking for a meal.

On the way back into the Sound, the Captain unfurled the sails and cut the engines.

It's heavenly.

And beautiful.

And instantly transports you to another time.

We cruised into the protected enclave as the sun was sinking. And like magic, the most incredible feast was waiting in the galley when we came below deck.