Doubtful Sound

Trip Start Nov 02, 2012

Trip End Jan 04, 2013

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Flag of New Zealand Te Anau, Southland, New Zealand
Sunday, November 25, 2012

We packed our bags and booked out, drove to Manapouri found our departure area and had coffee and cake. We parked the car and booked in, departure 12.30. We took a boat across Lake Manapouri to Manapouri Power station.We disembarked and took a coach to Doubtful Sound. The power station was powered by water turbines built to power 80% of an aluminium smelter at Bluff. To construct it they built a road between the Lake and Doubtful Sound to transport 7 transformers and turbines and all the material to construct this station. They dug tunnels to transfer used water to the sounds. This road is now used to transport sightseers to the sound.
The visibility was poor with low cloud. We boarded the Navigator, similar to Milford Sound boat at 14.30 and had a 2 hour trip to the Tasman Sea. En route we anchored and went on a tender boat to look for penguins and learn about the area. We all got soaking wet, found a hotel for Crayfish fishermen which is now in disuse. There were a dozen brave kayakers. We then carried on to the Tasman Sea, very rough. We saw lots of fur seals and one penguin. We returned to the Sound to find a mooring bay for our 4 course meal. En route we saw a pod of bottle nose dolphins. After dinner we had a slide show, and settled down by 22.30.

Slideshow