Doubtful Sound

Up not quite so early today. We had a 9.45am appointment with a boat, departing from Manapouri, just 20 minutes from Te Anau.

Today's mission, Doubtful Sound, which is in fact a bit of a mission. 45 min or so boat trip across Manapouri, up and over Wilmot pass by bus, another 45 or so, then a 3 hour cruise, and back.

And the trip isn't cheap, around $200 per adult, although we got a deal, so we were interested comparing Milford and Doubtful back to back. Which was better? The reality is that they are different. Milford is very very dramatic, especially after all the rain we experienced. Doubtful is still very dramatic in places, but just bigger. It's less steep sided, has fewer waterfalls and is wider. But if you add the experiences of the overall trip, it's relay awesome, especially as at the end you get to travel underground to the Manapouri Power Station. Boys of course love this sort of stuff, but I was surprised to see that my mother-in-law also loved it and thought it was a highlight.

All up, a very great day on Doubtful Sound (which is actually a fjord - fjords are created by glaciers, sounds by rivers). Got back around 5 and headed south, to a DoC campground at Lake Monowai. Very out of the way, but very awesome.