Doubtful Sound

If you ask me, one fjord is never enough. Today we visited Doubtful Sound. Our guided tour was a marathon seven-hour expedition involving two boats and two buses. We ventured across Lake Manapouri and over the Wilmot Pass before finally sailing deep into New Zealand’s remote southwestern coast. Sadly, after stunning blue skies at Milford Sound, today's weather was mainly overcast.  However, despite the weather, we thoroughly enjoyed today's outing.

Doubtful Sound was a wonderful contrast to the tourist-driven glamour of Milford Sound. This sound, for the most part, is broader and framed by less dramatic mountains than its famous counterpart. However, the tour we took still managed to take us on a scenic, and leisurely, circuit passing all of Doubtful Sound's most memorable highlights.

Our cruise included a full circuit around Bauza Island which saw us briefly venture out into the Tasman Sea. Here we witnessed seals lounging and frolicking on and around the Shelter Islands and the barren rocks of the Nee Islets. The Tasman was surprisingly calm with a gently rolling swell. Our skipper remarked how lucky we were as the boat doesn't often venture out as far as the Nee Islets.

We then returned to the safety of the sound where we took a breathtaking detour into Doubtful Sound’s iconic Crooked Arm. At this point, the sun kindly played its part. It briefly broke through the clouds as we sailed past the Crooked Arm's picturesque valleys. That's the image you see directly above.

In fact, the entire journey was punctuated by moments like this where the scenery suddenly shifted gear from mundane to iconic.  For example, the far reaches of Lake Manapouri's West Arm were impressive after crossing open water for much of our first boat ride. It was here we transferred onto our first bus of the day. Then, as we passed over the summit of Wilmot Pass, we were greeted by a classic view of Doubtful Sound stretching into the distance. Likewise, Deep Cove, where we boarded our second boat, proved another postcard-perfect location.

Sadly, we didn’t get to tour the impressive Manapouri Power Station as it’s currently undergoing major refurbishment. However, a small visitor's centre at West Arm gave us a good feel for this impressive complex. Its exhibits included a detailed 3D model of the underground power station's hidden reaches.  Then, just outside, we could see its dramatic penstock intake and transmission substation. The grounds also had one of the station's original turbines on display. These were replaced by more efficient units that increased their output in 2002.

Today's entire journey was made possible by the construction of this power station. The road we followed into Deep Cove was originally built to provide access to outlets for the station's tailrace tunnels. These tunnels channel water from Lake Manapouri through seven enormous underground generators and then discharge it into Doubtful Sound. 

I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the outlets up close. It would've been nice to bookend the tour with the penstocks at one end and the tailrace outlets at the other. Instead, we were teased by a battered road sign pointing to a side road as our bus drove by.

Tomorrow we'll start our journey back towards Christchurch. Our itinerary includes overnight stops in Wanaka, Mt Cook, and Lake Tekapo. Stay tuned for more stunning photos.