Friday 10^th January 2003
Ron very kindly drives us to the ferry with our luggage and makes sure we go! Again the sea is very calm although there is a swell running across our path. The Foveaux Express travels at over 20 knots ensuring a speedy passage. No problems recovering the car and we drive into Invercargill for fresh supplies - should be cheaper here than in Te Anau. Follow the Southern Scenic Route through Riverton and Clifden before reaching Manapouri. Nothing much of note to mention on the journey although apparently there are some good caves with glow worms that you can visit near Clifden, under your own steam.

At Manapouri visited the Real Journeys information centre. Their trip to Doubtful Sound is NZ$190, which includes tour of power station. Seems expensive and the company is obviously making a lot of money. In the winter Ron works on their cruise boat the Fiordland Adventurer. Also enquired at Adventure Kayak & Cruise about kayaking on Doubtful - NZ$169 for full day. Some vacancies next two days, more later.

Drive on to hostel - Barnyard Backpackers. Run by nice couple, John and Inge, with three children and they farm deer and keep horses for trekking. Built the whole complex themselves - all timber - and was originally a lodge and restaurant but wasn't successful so they turned it into a backpackers and it is full up. We have large double room with ensuite shower and loo, television (no signal), clock radio (not much signal), and kettle. Linen not included but we hire sheets. Bed too soft for Glyn but have separate single bed in our room so Glyn uses that. Pete is getting used to having a bed to himself - could be difficult when we get home. Unfortunately sound proofing very poor and people next door can be heard clearly so play CD quietly on computer to avoid having to listen to them. Central kitchen, dining, laundry, reception, pool table are in big barn up the hill. Loads of Israelis, apparently on their hit list.

Saturday 11^th January 2003
Now 5 weeks in NZ. Wake late, tea in beds. Get up and take slow breakfast as its drizzling and don't feel inspired to hurry out. Pete books kayak trip for Monday through hostel for 5% discount.

After lunch decide to take a walk out along the Kepler Track. Drive down to Rainbow Reach where there is swingbridge across Waiui River. Walk most of the way to Shallow Bay Hut - about an hour and a half. Path passes through mountain beech woodland and some wetlands. Rain very light but cloud is low and views are restricted. Even so there is good scenery around Lake Manapouri. Take picture of Rona Island with Beehive island behind. Beyond these are high mountains which can't be seen in the cloud. Meet two girls from Slaughterhouse who have just completed Kepler.

At dinner we meet a German named Simon who recognises us from The Innlet - we keep bumping into past acquaintances. Cook stir fry for dinner. John fixes the aerial for the TVs.

Sunday 12^th January 2003
Wake at 7.30 and as the weather looks fine decide to get going on the drive to Milford Sound. The information books tell us that we should either go early or late as many coaches head there and the road is slow and winding. It should take just over two hours if we go there direct. We actually have a clear road for the first hour and then when we get to the last part we 'catch up with or are overtaken by' traffic that left at a different time. We have a moment of panic as we come across a recent rock fall in the road. Avalanches are common here. Lots of snow patches almost down to the road and at one point there is a peculiar sight when it looks as if lots of jets of water are shooting out of the hillside - a real peppering over a fairly large area. When we pull over it is gone and only a mist remains. The explanation at the information office is that it is dozens of small waterfalls on a flat piece of mountain which are suddenly caught in a swirling wind causing them to 'corkskrew' straight out of the hillside. Quite a sight. In fact the last half hour to the Sound is breathtaking. Craggy peaks, mist, blue sky and snow surround us. We drive through the Homer Tunnel completed in 1953. It is roughly hewn out of the rock and is unlit - it drops steeply 400 feet in three quarters of a mile and is quite narrow so you feel there is not enough room to pass large vehicles like coaches.

Arrive at Milford Sound at about 1015 and are pleased that we set out early - quite a few cars already but we are ahead of the coaches. The day is hotting up and Mitre Peak (1695m) stands magestically guarding the Sound. We go into the café for coffee and decide to book a cruise. We opt for the Red Boat cruise which only takes 90 people as opposed to Real Journeys which takes 350! We also go for one which visits the Underwater Obsevatory which is in Harrison's cove on the Sound.

Having chosen the 1225 cruise we have time to walk up to the viewpoint and then cover ourselves in repellent (the sand flies like it here). On our way to the wharf see some people looking in the rushes by the path - they say they have seen a penguin go in there. They move off and we inspect more closely finding what looks like a Fiordland Crested Penguin trying to make itself as small as possible. According to the information it should not be here at this time of year - we leave it undisturbed before anyone else chances along.


Once we have our boarding tickets we have time to walk along to the Bowen falls near the wharf. Spectacular falls dropping 160m from a hanging valley. (Named after the wife of an earlier Governor). Difficult to get anywhere near due to the spray but rightly suppose we will get good photo opportunity from the boat.

On boarding the boat everyone seems to be heading for the top deck so we sit in the bow of the boat and have a first class view as we plough through the water. It is a hot day and we are glad to be out in the breeze. There is a commentary from the captain and complimentary tea and coffee. In the first half hour we get a better view of the Bowen Falls and Mitre Peak - also fisherman's wharf (the fleet catches crayfish which is mostly exported) - the small airport which is quite busy in good weather (up to 260 flights a day) and excellent views of the Sheerdown range of mountains which run for 16km along the road to the Sound.

We disembark at the Underwater Observatory, which was opened in 1995. The observatory rises and falls with the tide as it is built on pontoons attached to the rock face by link arms. On going downstairs (10m below the surface) we are surrounded by observation windows (120mm thick) which are full of marine life. A variety of fish are swimming past and the rock face is covered with sponges, anemones, starfish, huge horse mussels, urchins and coral, including the rare black coral which is in fact white! The water should be much darker but because there has been very little rain there is no fresh water on the surface (this is normally very brown because of tannin from the forests). We would like to have spent longer there but we are moved on because the other half of our party has to get a look.


Back on the boat we continue on our way out to the Tasman Sea - we stop to see the Fairy falls where we are invited to try to catch a cup of fairy water. We happily feel the spray and look up at the beautiful view until the boat goes right under the falls and yours truly get soaked. Should have realised when a large jug was lashed to the prow! We had put our waterproof coats on in preparation but did not expect such a drenching - our trousers are clinging to our legs! All part of the fun and we steam off in the sun over the rest of the trip. We see mountains that look like lions or elephants according to your humour! The Stirling falls (146m) and copper point where there are high deposits of copper. This is also the windiest point where winds of 75 knots have been recorded. The mountain sides are clearly carved in steps corresponding to different ice ages - 5 in all with 3 above sea level and 2 below.

The trip takes nearly three hours and is well worth $60 each. We feel so lucky to have had such a beautiful day in a place that gets up to 9m rain per year. The commentary is amusing, at one point we are told "if you keep sailing in this direction for four more days you will reach one of NZ's smaller outlying islands - Australia - also known as West Island"!

On the way home we stop on the Hollyford valley road so that Pete can walk up to Lake Marian (recommended by Ron). It says three hours return but Pete does it in under two. Glyn walks up to the viewing platform over the falls that are not high but quite fast and wide.

Arrive back about 7pm - a superb day.

Monday 13^th January 2003
Fiordland is suffering from a drought at the moment. There's been no proper rain for at least 10 days. This is generally good for us. However, there's a lot less water in the waterfalls and for kayaking it means it will be windy. Pete's kayaking trip starts early - 0745 reporting time. A group of 11 kayakers arrive and register. Pete studies each carefully as one will be sharing a kayak with him for the day. The girls all have partners or come in twos. In fact three of the group are on a separate overnight trip. From Manapouri a fast boat takes us the length of the lake to West Arm where the L Manapouri power station is situated. In the visitor centre we are told to get our swimming things on as there will be no changing rooms later. From there a mini-bus carries us 22km over Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove on Doubtful Sound. The road we use was constructed for the power station as it was the cheapest way to bring heavy equipment into the site.

The power station is a tourist attraction in its own right. It makes use of the water in Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau to drive its turbines. At the lakeside a hole has been bored down 178m to sea level and 7 shafts carry the water down from the surface each driving a 100MW generator. From the generators the water is carried west under the mountains (9km in a straight line) to Doubtful Sound where it is treated before going into the sea. The water levels of the two lakes are carefully controlled to be within very strict guideline levels with the aid of control gates on the outflow from the higher lake at Te Anau. Power station was built to generate power for aluminium smelting. This plant was proposed to be positioned in Doubtful Sound but the plans were defeated and is now located south of Invercargill at Bluff (some distance away).

At Doubtful Sound we are issued with a cup of coffee, a thermal shirt, a wetsuit, a cap with ear flaps and a canoe jacket. Our dry clothes are packed together with our lunch and taken onto a second boat, laden with kayaks. Reg, the skipper, then motors slowly out onto the Sound while we receive our safety briefing, a spraydeck and a life jacket. With 5 layers it is now far too late to have a pee! The boat is then anchored and we are all seen into our double kayaks. I am paired with a garrulous Aussie who decides that I will steer to start with. It all seems easy to begin with and we paddle off in the direction of the Tasman Sea 35km away.

The Sound, which of course is not a sound but a fiord (being glaciated), is very dramatic. The mountains are huge and sheer and the water narrow in comparison. The trees which grow over large areas are very loosely attached and there are regular tree slides. The tree roots are all tightly interwoven and once a slide starts all the trees in a vertical path slip into the sea. It then takes about 70 years for the area to grow back in. Apparently Fiordland is the fastest growing rain forest area in the world. Our guide keeps us informed of the flora and fauna that we do or might see and we are shown a fern that has been unchanged for 460 million years, and another (Kidney Fern) which is only one cell thick and is translucent.

The wind starts to blow and gets steadily stronger, but when Reg who is somewhere behind us with the boat reports that there are dolphins nearby it is decided that we will try to head across and intercept them. However, it is much easier going out with the current, tide and wind than going back and although we manage to cross to the other side of the Sound some kayaks make no other progress and we cut our losses and "go with the flow". The waves seem quite large (to us) and combined with the wash from a cruise boat and a whirlpool life gets a bit difficult. However, we all survive and about 8km from where we started find the safety of a very sheltered cove. Reg catches up with us and we all get back aboard with the kayaks.

Reg then motors out in search of the dolphins which we do find and spend 10 minutes in the company of a pod of about 12. These are bottlenosed dolphins - the largest of the dolphin species. We then motor back to Hall Arm while we eat our lunch. Back in the water we paddle up this arm of the Sound to its narrowest point. The wind is much less here and the odd gust is in our favour. Reg spots dolphins again but we ignore him, we spot Blue Penguins. At about 1545 Reg picks us up again and we are offered the opportunity to swim. Les deux mademoiselles francaise say they will and when we realise they are serious the rest of us decide to join them. The water temperature was about 18C - quite warm by Scottish standards - and it was actually quite nice. Not to say a tremendous experience.

Home by the same route in reverse but motoring across the Lake was rather exciting as the wind was by now very strong and we were crashing through the waves. On the way back two locations used in Lord of the Rings were pointed out to us. In particular the scene in the first film when they are trying to climb over the mountains before turning back to pass under through Moria.

Total cost for the day was NZ$169 which at first seemed a lot, but arriving back at 1845 (11 hours) we all felt we had our money's worth, and enjoyed the personal attention of the owners Reg and Jo (http://www.fiordlandadventure.co.nz). More information and non-kayaking tours on Doubtful Sound at www.fiordlandtravel.co.nz. Didn't take the camera so no pictures but my paddling partner may email some later.

Back at the ranch Glyn had a homely day, did some washing, baked flapjack, wrote log, postcards, talked to people etc.

As a result of a recommendation from a fellow traveller we have made a change to our itinerary and are now staying at Riverdown Guest House (+64 3 409 8499) Arrowtown on the 15th, rather than Thomas Hotel in Queenstown - hopefully a good move. Also we have noted the following lodge that looks like it may be good but more expensive: Poplar Lodge, 4 Merioneth Street, Arrowtown 03 442 1466 Up-market backpackers, $58 double/twin, $20 share room (maybe less with BBH card). Same Carol from Canada told us of her terrible experiences with the Kiwi Experience bus tours - poor accommodation, drunken companions, just a booze trip. She eventually forfeited her money, rented a car and is now staying at BBH hostels and has no regrets.

Tuesday 14^th January 2003
After our two big days, just a quiet day in and around Te Anau. Pete buys some seeds for Cabbage Palm and Mount Cook Lily in the hope that they can be grown at Ploc - great Elizabethan plant hunter! Glyn buys more sandfly repellent and light clothes as sandflies may be attracted to dark. Take some pictures of the hostel.

Tomorrow we head off to Queenstown and a trip on the steamship Earnslaw.