BigBlueBugBlog: Doubtful Sound

After four days of backpacking and a full day of kayaking in and around Milford Sound, we returned to Te Anau for a day of rest and preparation for our trip to Doubtful Sound.

Doubtful Sound is 44 km long making it three times longer than Milford Sound. It is a popular destination, but because its access is limited and difficult, it is much more untouched and calm. It is also the deepest fiord with depths up to 421m, drawing a variety of deep sea wildlife like bottlenose dolphins.

It takes about three hours to get to Doubtful Sound. We had an early start, waking up at about 5am to catch a van to Lake Manopouri (the second deepest lake in New Zealand), to a boat across the lake, to another van over a pass down to the access point.

We were in a group of seven and our guide Josh. There was Emma and Paul from London, Lilith, her sister Silver, and her mother, all from Canada. Josh, with a small smirk on his face, handed out all of our gear, including wetsuits. The smell of the neoprene made me gag and take a deep breath as the memories of my dolphin boat illness came rushing back. We all donned our matching gear, covering ourselves in neoprene, intensely yellow waterproof jerseys, bright fleece hats and vivid purple life vests and spray skirts. There really isn’t anything more emasculating than wearing a purple waterproof skirt. We marched down to the water looking like a intimidating team, ready to take on any adventure thrown at us.

After carrying our kayaks down to the launch point, we received a kayak introduction and safety demonstration from Josh. We loaded our things into the boats and set off. There was a light rain falling. Laura sat in the back and steered as I was delegated to be the brawn of our boat. We spent the first few minutes paddling in silence, amazed by the sheer scale and grandeur. The clouds blocked our views of the tops of the surrounding sea cliffs making it even more difficult to actually judge heights and distances.

After a fair amount of kayaking we “rafted up,” meaning all four boats came side by side and held each other. Josh very articulately and accurately explained how Doubtful Sound was formed out of glacial erosion, and about the wildlife. He then pointed to Laura and I, and said, “If you have more questions, we are lucky to have 2 marine biologists with us!” Thinking he was kidding we played along saying, “ummm…yeah!” Laura and I had already learned most of the information from our guides on the Milford and proceeded to ask very intelligent questions like, “how big do the fishies get?” and “will we see dolphins… like big ones?”

The rain began to get stronger and Josh just smiled and said, “It hasn’t started raining… yet.” We kayaked, with water hitting us from above, still waiting for the rain while Josh told us stories about other kayak trips and adventures.

We stopped for lunch on a nice beach. Josh showed us the proper Kiwi way to make hot chocolate. Being a hot chocolate connoisseur myself, I was eager for a taste. It wasn’t Giradelli but it was probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had while wet on a beach covered in neoprene. After Josh told us about his successful hunting season, Lilith and Silver explained their life of vegetarianism, leading to a few more laughs and we were back on our kayaks.

The water that was hitting us from above became really strong and Josh finally admitted it was raining. He explained that because of the rain it would be a good opportunity to check out some of his favourite waterfalls. He told us to follow his line and stay close as he made his way close to the side of the fiord. As we turned a corner, a wall of water cascading off of the cliffs above appeared. Because of the amount of rain, a whole long stretch of the wall was turned into a light waterfall. We all followed Josh’s boat and happily got wetter than we already were!

By the time we made it to our campsite, it was really pouring out. We made a group effort to get all the tents up as quickly and as possible. Fortunately, there was a comfortable covered bug shelter for all of us to change into our dry clothes and cook our dinners.

We really had a great time getting to know everyone else on the trip. Josh has been a kayak guide for four years and had participated in a number of youth wilderness programs. Lilith is studying in Wellington for the semester and Sliver and her mom were visiting for a week. They shared funny stories about there family and travels.

Paul and Emma, like Laura and I, packed up their lives and came to New Zealand to travel for four months. They bicycled the whole north island on a tandem bike and participated on a number of environmental projects. They opted for a camper van once they made it down to the south island, as they felt the hills would probably be better off without them flying up them. Emma is a freelance event coordinator back in London. Laura and I both took great interest in this as both of us are planning events as part of out Landmark Course. Paul is a professional travel writer and photographer and needless to say we all asked him a ton of questions!

After a long day of kayaking, a few laughs and more than a few sips of wine, we all grew weary and went to sleep by nine.

The next morning Laura and I made ourselves a wonderful breakfast of bacon and eggs. A rare treat when camping, but because we didn’t have to carry it on our backs we spoiled ourselves. We walked down to the waters edge to wash up and the scenery was stunning. The clouds and fog were peeling off the mountains and the water was remarkably silent and still. After a few minutes enjoying the peacefulness I left Laura with the remaining dishes and returned to the shelter. Laura, returned a few minutes later and said that she was enjoying the peace and quiet until a giant tour boat came through, obliterating the still water and almost washing away some of our cutlery! I wonder what affect that has on the wildlife?

We all gleefully pulled on our cozy, cold, wet, wet, wet, wetsuits and jumped back into our kayaks. The rain stopped falling and we kayaked for a few hours before stopping at another beach for lunch where they apparently held the world stone skipping competition. We kayaked until about 2, enjoying the scenery while exchanging riddles and brain teasers. As we pulled our kayaks ashore for the last time, I saw a bit of blue sky starting to fall through the clouds and felt fortunate that we had such ideal weather to experience Doubtful Sound.