NZ Day 5: What's that Doubtful Sound?

Yesterday's post was obscenely long with not too many pictures to match. Today the post will be relatively short (relative to all of my past posts, not just yesterday's), but there are enough photos for a Where's Waldo conference (though please don't waste your life searching them for Waldo... play Where's Dana instead).

Why the trim post, Denis?
Well, it's getting fatter the more I jibber-jabber, but I really, honestly cannot summarise the sites of Lakes Manapouri & Te Anau and Doubtful Sound. Almost all of Day Five was spend on boats taking in incredible natural beauty. So I will spin some yarn about side-topics, but enjoy the photos more than my words. And try to visit the South Island of New Zealand to see for yourself.

We were staying in Te Anau (on Lake Te Anau, remember), so we caught a bus to Manapouri (on Lake Manapouri) to catch a boat to catch a bus to catch a boat... and then second verse, same in reverse! It was a very full day well spent. Lake Manapouri provides scenery outstanding in its own right. Waterfalls spew out of the woods, forests cling to steep hills that drop to the water and in the distance are fantastic cloud formations around snow-capped mountains. We got off the boat and onto a bus at the Lake Manapouri Power Station. More on that later. Brown parrot-like birds greeted us as we deboarded. These are called Kea (not Manapouri Birds), and they are known for being very destructive to cars and houses. Who knows how these birds have survived in the Fjordland for thousands of years?!

The bus trip was nearly as amazing as the boat, taking down (and up) narrow roads past interesting plant life and many more waterfalls, most of which only occur as the rainfall sees fit. Once at Deep Cove, at the inland edge of Doubtful Sound, we boarded another boat. I was amazed at the solitude. For the duration of the trip, we saw a handful of other boats and about as many kayaks. This is the high tourist season for New Zealand - summer. We did pick Doubtful Sound over Milford Sound so that we would avoid the tourists, and I think it was worth it. Once on the water, we cruised for hours, taking in the sound itself, rarely seen Hector's dolphins and many seals. The skipper also pulled up nice and close to some islands and cliffs to give us an extremely close look at the native vegetation. The "Southern Christmas Tree" took the cake.

Fiordland National Park is also a World Heritage site (as part of Te Wahipounamu) and the reason is obvious once your are there... however, one crafy kiwi has figured out a way to get a supply store in there. He checked the legal papers and found out that the parkland starts on the land at high tide watermark, so he built this structure that is technically legal. It provides supplies and a place to rest to local fisherman and lobstermen. Another interesting thing to note were the many Christmas tree-shaped bare marks on the cliffs. Each one is the result of a tree avalanche. The cliffs along the fiords are rocks and steep, so the trees intertwine their roots for support. However, when one goes down, they all go down. After a major earthquake a few years ago there were 700 tree avalanches as a result.

After hours of peaceful boating we were back at Deep Cove and onto the bus. At the edge of Lake Manapouri we toured Manapouri Power Station New Zealand's largest hydroelectric power station... while still in the bus for some of it. Being an American, I was a bit surprised by the lack of security, but I also enjoyed every minute of it. The power station makes used of underground flow of water from Lake Manapouri to Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound and has relatively little impact on the environment. The groundbreaking power structure (haha) came about after enormous opposition to a dam. Kudos.

Back at the ranch, Te Anau Holiday Park, we had dinner in and got a good look at a tui! And enjoyed it's jibber-jabber, of course, and its bow-tie. Speaking of, there was a lot more jibber-jabber in this post than I intended. Please do take the time to review all of the photos here. Actually, that's only half of the photos. Still a lot, but it was hard to let go of them.

*Doubtful Sound gets it's name from Captain James Cook. When he came across it his men suggested they explore it. He said if they were to enter it would be doubtful they would ever leave. Given his vessel and the conditions of the call... good call Jimmy.