New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 13 & 14

I am a little delayed in posting because I was having internet hook up problems and because we have just come back from our two day bus/boat trip to the Doubtful Sound in Fiordland. Fiordland is the Southeastern section of the South Island. If you look on the map you will see that like Norway, the coast is completely indented with sounds, bays and fiords.

We started our trip on Sunday morning being picked up at our hotel at 8:15 and taken to the Real Journeys staging point in Queenstown. Our route to Doubtful Sound starts with a bus drive that takes us around one of the major lakes of the region, past numerous peaks of the Southern Alps and through the rolling countryside of North Southland (I'm not making that name up). It's a little like going throug parts of the Montana and the Dakotas. Sheep are everywhere as are deer which are also farmed for venison.

Miracle of miracles it is a sunny day! We can actually see the mountains even thought the tops are still shrouded with roiling clouds the remnants of the prior bad weather. Then we reach a rendez-vous where others are joining us who have driven. We now take a 45 minute boat ride that ferries us to the next rendez-vous. Some who are taking shorter trips go on one bus while those who are on the overnight cruise go to others.

Our second bus ride is 45 minutes. It takes on a winding gravel road over the Wilmont Pass. It was doing some major snow here yesterday because of the storm that I wrote about in my prior posts. This is one of the few temperate rain forests in the world. They get over 21 feet of rain a year! All of the trees were covered in snow. As you reach the top of the pass, you get your first view of the Sound with boat waiting below. it's about 1 in the afternoon now.

After getting on board and into our cabins, the boat sets out. I am not a sufficiently good writer to tell fully just how spectacular a place this is. High mountains tower over each side of the fiord. There are numerous arms of additional fiords branching off the main channel. Trees cover the mountains with snow on the tops. Waterfalls come down from close to the tops and fall to floor. And this goes on with variations for miles and miles and miles with no one else at all on the water with you. I don't know how else to describe it other than as being intoxicated with natural beauty.

After a couple of hours into the boat ride it is time for activities. You can go on a small boat with a guide or you can kayak. The water today is totally calm. I opt for the kayaking. It's my third time kayaking. The water in this area is around 44 degrees. Not stuff you want to be in. It is yet another feeling to be out so close to the water with it being so quiet as when you are on the kayak and being in all this beauty. We're out for about 40 minutes. After exhilaration of the kayaking it is 4 PM and they are serving some hot soup and we decide it's time to start drinking.

Then we head to the mouth of the Sound where it empties into the Tasman Sea. We're looking to experience that change, find fur seals and penguins. The sea is pretty rough. You can tell almost immediately the difference. Wife and I are right in the front of the boat and there is plenty of rocking and rolling. I don't feel great but there are no breakdowns. We do we some the seals but the penguins are not cooperating. It's back into calmer water. Wife and I are both happy for that.

We move to a quite side channel and anchor for the night. Dinner is a pleasant affair. We're meeting all kinds of people from Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, the U.S. It is a full moon tonight. With the clearness of the sky and the calmness of the water, the moonlight is rippling over the water. I'm helping wife as she's taking long timed shots by holding my jacket up to cover ships lights that are getting in the way. It's a pretty special time.

We head to bed because we want to be up early on Monday to see the moon on the other side and catch sunrise.

Wife and I are on deck at 6 AM. There's only one other person with us, a local profession photographer whose out on this cruise for enjoyment photography. Unfortunately the moon has ducked behind mountains quite some time earlier so we've missed out on that. But we get the full sunrise experience with the sky gradually brightening and the sun starting light parts of the mountain range. I'm standing watching the difference in the water as there are slight ripples on some sections with others being totally flat as the current works its way down the channel.

As the boat moves on again, they continue to look for the elusive penguins. We see a few in the water. They are so small and far away that you can just make them out before they disappear. This morning the skiy is absolutely clear and blue; a total contrast to the white capped mountain tops. Everyone is out taking pictures. It is also freezing out with a bit of a breeze so everyone is doing a shuttle going outside to see and/or photograph as much as they can before the cold chases them in to warm themselves up for another go. If anything the vistas are better this morning than yesterday. Our wake trailing in the totally calm water makes a surreal tableau for the reflecting sunlight.

We get to the dock around 10 AM. We retrace our route. Everyone is pretty tired and quiet on the way back. The mountains we passed in the beginning are even more clear and beautiful than when we came.

We get back to Queenstown at 3:30 and get taken back to our hotel. We go into town for a little shopping and dinner. It's been a wonderful two days.