Day 6 and 7- Doubtful Sound

No camper van for me this evening! The girls drove me to Manapouri to catch my overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound. This is the one thing that I really wanted to do here. Since mom and I did Milford Sound I was anxious to see the more secluded and bigger version of it. I couldn't imagine something being more beautiful that Milford, so I had to see it with my own eyes. I was not sure what to expect though as I was doing it alone. On one hand I was really excited to have sometime alone, on the other it is always more fun to do things with people you know... but I was confident that I would meet people and again I was thankful to have some time alone! As I waited for the boat more passengers came. I was a good 35 years younger then all of them! Time alone... I needed it anyway.

We were waiting on a dock and I noticed that the mountains around us were okay, but nothing spectacular. I was really confused over the fuss everyone makes over Doubtful. I stayed positive and hoped that nearby would be what I expected! We loaded a small boat and I grew more confused...

It turns out we had to take a boat 1.5 hours, to a 1 hour bus ride which would get us to our cruise. The bus ride was spectacular as I am sure you expected! We drove on the curviest road as of yet literally in the rain forest. We made it to the cruise boat, really cute 70 or so passenger boat.

I paid for a quad- again minding my budget! They brought us to the bottom level of the boat and to my dismay it was like that crazy hostel- we had 4 person cubby holes! Thankfully I got a bottom bunk and my cubby hole mates were great! Well one we didn't really speak to, but the other two were a couple from England Nicci and Ricky. They were very inclusive and made me feel like I had instant friends! Even if the accommodations were not as nice as I expected, it was a lot better than sleeping in a van!

The boat served us the best banana and chocolate muffins and coffee as we set sail. Finally my expectations were met. Doubtful Sound is incredible. Now I wouldn't say they are more beautiful than Milford, if anything the other way round- but what makes this so special is how secluded it is. No other boats were in site and the mountains seemed to be closer together making it feel more intimate. The mountains in Milford however were taller, steeper and not as wide as these. Again, even though they are so similar, it is apples to oranges- or more like tangarines to clementines... so similar you could mistake them at first glance, but something that you can't really put your finger on makes them uniquely special.

Within the boat ride we saw dolphin- wow. I can't get tired of seeing them. They are so playful and cute. We learned that the mountains have tree avalanches. The trees are covered in rain forest, but because the mountains are huge rock formations, there isn't much soil. Because of this, the trees form a intermingling of their roots, they hold one other standing (think of a knot in your hair). With big storms sometimes they get loose and a tree might fall causing many more to fall. Literally a wide portion of the trees will fall causing everything below it to fall as well, exposing the rock. Over time moss starts to grow, then bush, smaller trees and finally mother earth repairs herself and the rain forest is in tact.

The water was black here. It was really cool. You couldn't see one inch lower that the surface of the water. You couldn't see through it at all. We went Kayaking. Mind you it is still very cold here. We lucked out though and got a mostly sunny day. They say that is the nicest they get in Doubtful- so I was very lucky! As I paddled I got some water on me and it was freezing- but it was to prepare me for my next activity! We kayaked for about an hour and it was great to get up close to the mountains to really understand their height and to see them is much greater detail.

My next activity was swimming! I wish my step dad Bill was with me, I thought of him instantly... he would have loved this! I knew I wanted to do it... but I also knew it was cold. I really did it for him because I know he would have been the first one in; I had to experience it for him. As I said before the water is black. I couldn't think about what might be under me! I jumped in the 10 degree Celsius water and gasped for breath. It took the breath out of me for a good 30 seconds, that's how cold it was! I actually stayed in. I made myself get used to it and was in there for about 10 minutes, longer than anyone else. Only about 10 people went in, but all of the passengers were watching from the different floors and were cheering us on. Other people tried to stay in with me, but they called me crazy and quickly went back out... I was floating on my back loving it. Bill... it reminded me of the Colorado River swim we had... you would have loved this! I have to say though when I got out I had pins and needle sensation all over my body. That didn't stop for a few minutes. I have never felt it like that before!

The boat had soup and rolls waiting for us. I had a quick hot shower and headed up for soup. This was such a nice break from the van!

That night we watched a slide show learning about the animals in the area as well as the plants. Did you know that NZ didn't have any animals on it before the Europeans came? I think I might have mentioned that before. Because of this, the for fathers- as she called them decided to bring some in. They first set some rabbits free.

Rabbits will be rabbits and reproduced at such a rapid rate they had to get rid of some. Because of this, they brought in Stoats. The Stoat realized it was a lot of hard work to catch the quick rabbits and decided to target NZ's native flightless birds in stead. These birds- the Kiwi and Penguins are fligthless because they had never been prey before. They didn't know to fear other creatures or to flee for their lives. The Stoat had an easy time attacking them. Now the Stoat were a problem so the Possum was introduced to NZ. The Possam are such pigs they eat tons of vegetation every night- literally and are killing NZ's beautiful greenery. Now all people and tourists are encouraged to run over them.

I have never seen so much road kill in all of my life. Literally every Kilometer has about 3 or 4 dead possum. It is really disgusting to see freshly hit ones. We finally got our first hit to Franz Joseph... but that is a fast forward. I have to say though it was really cool but almost gagged while it happened, you could feel the entire right side of the van lift a little.

Another cool bird NZ has is the Wood Parrot. It is green in color and it's feather look like the old rounded shingles you see in BK and LI. I think I can speak for my entire family in saying that the Scorsone / Sour's will be wood parrots in our next lives... actually, throw in the Muchnik boys, they would too... These birds eat berries... they eat so much that they actually have food that sticks out of it's mouth. It literally stuffs it's face silly. The berries ferment before it is digested so the birds pretty much get drunk. They are often seen falling out of trees and missing their landing on a tree branch. Eating so much it turns to wine... what a life!

I also met another great couple from Virginia / NC, Chelsea and Adam. They just got married out of Uni and decided to travel for while. I might see them again in Thailand. WE had a great laugh over the piano that was on the boat. There was an announcement made after dinner that it was there to be played and such. No one had, but as we were waiting to delaod the boat I noticed the sheat music they had on it- the soundtrack to Forrest Gump... too funny.

That morning we went to a portion of Doubtful Sound that was a dead end... so it was like an alcove in the Mountains. It was reflective water, so the mountains were just as spectacular mirrored itneh water as they were above. They turned off all of the moters and generators on the boat for dead silence. All of the birds were heard. We relaxed there for about 15 minutes in silence, just listening to nature and admiring the stunning water and vista. I wish I could start every morning like that. Every problem seems to go away, I was at peace.