Doubtful Sound Day 2

I got out of my comfortable bed at 6.15, pulled some clothes on and went out on deck.  The sides of the fjord were black but there was just a little bit of light ahead, shining on a bank of fog. The engines were started and soon we headed into the fog so there wasn’t much to see as we had breakfast just the occasional brief glimpse of the bank or the top of a mountain.
 
As we got further on our journey the fog cleared a little and the sight of mist rolling down the mountainside was quite beautiful. The skipper nosed the ship into a cave to enable a crew member to collect some water filtered through the rock and sphagnum moss, probably about as pure as you can get.
 
For the rest of our journey the light changed many times and fog increased and decreased and soon we found ourselves back in Deep Arm for the coach journey up Wilmot Pass.
 
There was a 100 tonne transformer being moved ahead of us so we followed the convoy, stopping at various places. You have to marvel at the skill of the guys moving this load, especially at the gradients that this road runs on. They stopped for a break and we came past to get onto the catamaran that would take us across Lake Manapouri and onto the coach for the short journey back to Te Anau.
 
It was a wonderful experience and I take my hat off to the organisers, Real Journeys, but especially to the team on Fjordland Navigator who worked so hard to make it all seem effortless.
 
   
David