This cruise is a MUST DO in South island, New Zealand.
Pristine wilderness, dense rainforest, magical fjord, crazy Tasman Sea, colony of seals, jumping dolphins beside your cruise, is what would describe Doubtful sound overnight cruise. I was contemplating between Milford sound day cruise and Doubtful sound day cruise but finally decided to do an overnight on doubtful sound in fiordland navigator vessel. Boy, it was very expensive but am so glad I did that. Doubtful is narrower and more remote than Milford sound.
The journey to reach the overnight cruise is in itself an interesting experience. The travel is divided into multiple legs:
- Drive from Queenstown – Manapouri
- Boat ride across lake Manapouri
- Board a bus and drive through the rainforest and Wilmot pass to reach deep cove.
- Board the cruise waiting at deep cove for overnight stay.
We started our drive from Queenstown to Manapouri.
The drive takes around 2 hours and one word of advice is to start early as the drive is so beautiful that it will be really hard not to give in to the temptation to stop on the way. After the picturesque drive, we reached Lake Manapouri. They have ample car parking space at Lake Manapouri parking lot. Lake Manapouri is New Zealand’s second deepest lake and is also a source of hydroelectric power. Thereafter our second leg of journey started. We boarded the small boat waiting to take us across the lake.
After cruising for a short while we reached the other end of the Manapouri lake where a bus was waiting to take us through the rainforest. The bus ride through the wilmot pass also has breathtaking views and we stopped there for a quick photo stop.
After passing through Wilmot Pass, we were transferred to our main vessel for overnight – Fiordland navigator.
Fiordland navigator is a well run cruise with fantastic crew. They have a wildlife expert to give you information on different species of animals and birds and he would also help you spot them. The cabins are cozy to keep you warm.
As soon as we boarded the vessel and checked in our cabins, an alarm went off and there was an announcement made to report to the deck. When we reached the deck we were given an option to either kayak solo or get into a small motor boat for excursion in the fjord. Surreal !!!
I hopped on the motor raft with the rest of my gang while my better half Prati went for kayaking.
In the below pic, Prati is seen kayaking in the opposite direction not wanting to come back to the main vessel 🙂
All the kayakers and the rafts explored the fjord and numerous small waterfalls. We stopped at the waterfalls where we were all given glasses to drink 100% safe distilled natural water.
After spending some quality time, we returned to the main vessel where were treated with hot soup and bread. The vessel then moved steadily deeper within the Fjord.
Doubtful sound is raw with overwhelming views. When we reached the mouth of the sound we saw a seal colony. This is the place where the sound meets the Tasman sea. Huge waves crash against the rocks and you can see the distinct colors of water from the sound and the sea.
We see the confluence of two waters- the waters from the sound meeting the Tasman sea.
After hanging around for a while, the captain started the journey inward again.
After dusk when it got dark, the entire place which was looking so beautiful started looking scary. The day ended with a sumptuous three course meal and singing sessions 🙂
Very few people would wake up early on their vacation and I am one of them. Early mornings before sunrise are magical on cruise and I couldn’t have missed it so I got up before the first ray of dawn and headed to the deck along with my better half. Pretty much as I expected there was no one except us;) The views and silence both were very inspiring.
The next morning as we slowly cruised along, we were greeted with 3 dolphins swimming and dancing right next to our boat.
After some more time the Captain suddenly turned off the engines and made an announcement to stay completely silent for the next 10 min. He further added that the place was called ‘the sound of silence‘ and asked us to feel the silence of the place. Words would not be able to describe those unforgettable 10 min I experienced! Just pure Magic!
