After breakfast with Jane, the proprietor of The Croft, we packed up and waited at the curb for our ride and the start of our overnight cruise on the Doubtful Sound. After a 20 minute bus ride, 45 minute boat trip and another 45 minute bus ride we finally made it to the Doubtful Sound and our ship, the Fiordland Navigator. We had a brief orientation in the dining hall while we munched on warm muffins and hot tea and then we set sail.
The Doubtful Sound is amazingly quiet compared to the hustle of tourist activity that the Milford Sound endures. It's easy to understand why when you consider how long it took to get here. As we left the dock we excitedly pointed out waterfall after waterfall. Within five minutes the number of waterfalls was overwhelming--you literally couldn't count them all. We spent the afternoon exploring different arms of the Sound in search of a calm spot to kayak. While the captain looked for a respite from the cold and light rain we were served warm soup.
We finally had clear, calm, and beautiful weather so half of the passengers went kayaking and the other half went out on little boats for nature observation. Jeremy went kayaking and I went observing. Any reservation I had about my decision not to go kayaking quickly changed when I got out on the boat with my camera and was able to document the amazing light show that resulted from the changing weather. Plus I got some cool pictures of the boat.
We spent the rest of the afternoon oohing and awwing over more waterfalls and rainbows and were even lucky enough to spot rare dolphins and penguins. For dinner they served up an awesome buffet. We drank wine and chatted with an older Australian couple. We spent the rest of the evening in another epic Scrabble battle before we settled into our teeny tiny room.
The Doubtful Sound is amazingly quiet compared to the hustle of tourist activity that the Milford Sound endures. It's easy to understand why when you consider how long it took to get here. As we left the dock we excitedly pointed out waterfall after waterfall. Within five minutes the number of waterfalls was overwhelming--you literally couldn't count them all. We spent the afternoon exploring different arms of the Sound in search of a calm spot to kayak. While the captain looked for a respite from the cold and light rain we were served warm soup.
We finally had clear, calm, and beautiful weather so half of the passengers went kayaking and the other half went out on little boats for nature observation. Jeremy went kayaking and I went observing. Any reservation I had about my decision not to go kayaking quickly changed when I got out on the boat with my camera and was able to document the amazing light show that resulted from the changing weather. Plus I got some cool pictures of the boat.
We spent the rest of the afternoon oohing and awwing over more waterfalls and rainbows and were even lucky enough to spot rare dolphins and penguins. For dinner they served up an awesome buffet. We drank wine and chatted with an older Australian couple. We spent the rest of the evening in another epic Scrabble battle before we settled into our teeny tiny room.
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