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| Boat trip up Lake Manapouri |
After a quick turnaround in Cromwell, we’re driving south again and over to the west coast to the area known as Fjordland. Heading down to Queenstown and northwest towards Milford Sound our destination is Manapouri. In 1981 we returned here after our Milford track hike and stayed at Mrs. Murrell’s guest house. It is still here, though she has long since passed. We have a picture of Alice Murrell standing where Bonnie is in the picture below and the house is exactly the same from the outside. Her Grandson and his wife now run it and the price has risen considerably from eight dollars for a room in a shed, and 8.50 for dinner. We still remember her saying that though she was full up she would put us in a converted shed, and for dinner, “I’ll just put another joint of hogget on “—hogget being a sheep older than 12 months, that has 4 teeth, instead of 2 teeth which is what defines a lamb. Fun to revisit this place that has been a guest house in the same family since the late 1800’s.
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| Mrs. Murrell's guest house |
At the end of Lake Manapouri, which is served by a fast passenger catamaran, is the Manapouri hydroelectric project. Built starting in 1962 and finishing in 1972, it was a revolutionary design where the turbines are built underground below the bottom of the lake. Rather than building a dam which New Zealanders opposed, they actually drilled penstocks or raceways that come from the bottom of the lake down through the rock into the turbines,and then tunneled the outflow 10 kilometers all underground, where it dumps out at Deep Cove into Doubtful Sound at the rate of 500 cubic meters/second. A second tail race was completed in 2002 to increase power output. The major end user is the aluminum smelter in Bluff. Because of the need to move equipment and large machinery for construction, a road was built from Deep Cove up over the pass to the hydro station, which allows tourists access via the ferry from Manapouri to Doubtful Sound, which is the longest sound or fjord in the western part of NZ at over 40 kilometers.
It is hard to pick highlights from our NZ trip as it has all been fantastic, but our overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound with Deep Cove charters, http://www.doubtful-sound.com, run by Chris and Diane Lemin, assisted by deckhand, mate, and gourmet cook Tracy is a 20 out of 10 experience! Treated like family on their 62 foot launch, the SeaFinn we enjoyed a tour of a lifetime. This is a family run business dedicated to providing their guests the best trip they can offer! Chris met us at the hydro station visitor center in his van and took our group of 12, a great mix of friendly and fun folks to meet the boat. The road over is quite steep and the viewpoint looking down into the sound from the pass is dramatic. He explained that they don’t have good or bad weather, just weather. When it does rain the amount is unbelievable—up to 48 inches in 24 hours! The road washes out periodically but instead of canceling trips, he has actually used helicopters to ferry his guests at no extra charge for their cruise.
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| Doubtful Sound |
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| Seafinn |
Casting off from the dock we head up the sound and encountered a yellow crested Penguin swimming around the boat. Our “weather” was bluebird skies and a light wind. The mountains rise directly from the sea and are sculpted rock from glaciers. When it rains there are over 1,000 waterfalls that only run during rain although there are a few that are continuous fed by lakes or alpine rivers, and most vertical drops as much as 620 meters. Magically, Tracey has a lunch of chilled crayfish tails on the table for lunch which they catch daily for their guests. We’re cruising lazily up Crooked arm for the afternoon and taking in the incredible views. The water looks brackish due to the extreme amount of runoff from the mountains as the first 2 meters of water is fresh, floating on the salt water below. There are resident bottle nose dolphins that joined us for over an hour. Quite a sight to have them surfing in our bow wake. We spent the afternoon kayaking, fishing, and some went swimming as the water on top was quite warm. Bonnie caught a blue cod and one of our fellow guests caught a 4.5 foot school shark. Our cruise took us clear out to the Tasman sea where Chris and Tracey stopped to pull their Cray fish (spine lobster) pots. The swell is noticeable and we can see waves crashing and spraying on distant rocks while watching Albatross float over the water on their huge wings. Amazing birds! Coming back into the sound we swing by a floating cabin where the commercial crayfish boats tie up. It even has a helipad to fly out their catch. Kiwi's have a sense of humor, and it was reflected in the name of the cabin, Blanket Bay. The real Blanket Bay is an exclusive resort near Glenorchy that goes for over $1200/night! After all this activity we enjoyed a glass of wine as we watched the sun get lower and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of fresh caught blue cod, courtesy of Bonnie, roast venison, veggies and potatoes and cake for dessert! Chris brought the SeaFinn into a small bight, quite protected, where he has some fixed lines to tie off for the night. The stars and constellations are beautiful with the Southern Cross replacing our Big Dipper.
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| Loving being here |
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| Paddling on Crooked arm |
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| Weather we didn't have, but is the norm (photo courtesy Deep Cove Charters) |
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| Dolphins right off the bow |
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| Bonnie's blue cod |
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| Tasman sea entrace to Doubtful sound |
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| Southern albatross |
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| Dinner, fresh rom the Sea.... |
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| ...To the table |
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| We're in good hands with Cap'n Bonnie |
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| The other Blanket Bay |
After a sound sleep we get underway again enjoying the sunrise and shadows over mill pond smooth water and a slow cruise through these amazing waters back to Deep Cover. Absolutely a fantastic trip!
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| Doubtful Sound Sunrise |
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