Queenstown ⇨Lake Manapouri ⇨Doubtful Sound
2 buses, 2 boats. 7:15am pickup, 8pm return. FULL day – but first, a 3-mile pitch-black run along Lake Wakatipu thru Queenstown Gardens. Would purchase a flashlight later in the day – last time getting spooked in the early a.m. 🙂
2 hour 45 minutes west over the Southern Alps to Lake Manapouri. Box lunch purchase, then ferried ‘cross glacier-fed water, where a 2nd motor coach awaited. Travelled on New Zealand’s most expensive road over Wilmot Pass, stopping twice to walkabout/experience the dense rainforest of Fiordland National Park. Clouds parted, sun appeared – snapped several shots of Deep Cove, our catamaran entrance on West Arm.
3 hour cruise thru pristine water, surrounded by lush volcanic mountains. If you’re limited on funds, this is the one place to splurge. Just WOW! Gotta/hafta/must [see] Doubtful Sound (or Milford Sound) on NZ’s Tasman Sea.
Doubtful Sound was named ‘Doubtful Harbour’ in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers, ‘though it is not technically a sound but a fiord.
Beautiful sunshiny day. Deep Cove to Crooked Arm, Crooked Arm to First Arm, First Arm past the Shelter Islands.
Fur seals sunbathed on the tiny boulder-faced islands, last land before entering the turbulent Tasman Sea. Boat lurched in ocean waves – up, back, side-to-side – before turning back, returning to the Sound.
Extra time available so…explored First Arm’s inlet waters. Stopped our Patea Explorer, cut the engines entirely. Ship staff asked for 2 minutes of silence, [would be] the day’s most memorable takeaway. Island waterfalls splashed, saltwater lapped against our drifting vessel. Silence. Emotional, visceral & exotic.
Easy half-day adventure tomorrow – panning for gold…in New Zealand.
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- Queenstown ⇨Lake Manapouri ⇨Doubtful Sound
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- Fiordland National Park
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- Deep Cove
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- Crooked Arm
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- Shelter Islands
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- SEALS!
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- the Tasman Sea
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- First Arm
…meanwhile, far far away in New Jersey — Ash’s bridal shower; next up: a Colorado wedding
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- Maid-of-Honor
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- Mom
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- Mom-in-law
Up an hour before dawn, kept my first run on South Island close to our Christchurch lodging – early tour start this morning. Quick 3 miles ‘round Burnside Park. Run highlights: rugby field, lawn bowling, morning sunrise. G’day New Zealand!
Full day planned – 4WD tour, Jet Boat…no TranzAlpine Train. Rated one of the world’s top six train journeys, but unfortunately all train travel on South Island down (‘til March 22nd) due to extensive forest fire (it’s Southern Hemisphere summer).
Off-roaded across a rural cattle farm [Torlesse Station], driving UP UP UP steep switchbacks, ultimately climbing 3000ft+. Stopped & took in the landscape – clouds poured in, keeping temps cool…beautiful Canterbury Plains loomed below. No cattle this high; altitude however doesn’t slow the island sheep. Sighted a herd lunching on moisture-rich shrub grass. HUGE topography change from yesterday, more reminiscent of Colorado than New Zealand’s tropical North.
45 minutes from Torlesse Station, jet-boated up one of New Zealand’s major snow-fed rivers, the Waimakariri. Spray jacket, hat, gloves, life vest – check check check, boarded my first [Hamilton] jet boat. Weaving in & out of rock faces, over white water rapids, thru high rock canyons…at times, gliding over water less than 3 feet deep. WOW, WOW, WOW!
Amazing shot of the Southern Alps on the return ride near Lake Pearson. Mirror image of Colorado’s San Juan Range. Stunning.
Rental car pickup tomorrow. 5 hour drive, west over Arthur’s Pass to Franz Josef Glacier. Super excited! Is it morning yet? 🙂
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- UP UP steep switchbacks, ultimately climbing 3000ft
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- high above Canterbury Plains
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- SHEEP!
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- spray jacket, hat, gloves & life vest — ready, ready to RIDE
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- View Hill
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- LOVE LOVE jet-boating!
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- return trek near Lake Pearson — WOW!
…meanwhile, far far away in Colorado — pup’s enjoying an adventure of his own 🙂
Jetboating the Waimakariri
Another day of sunshine. However still feeling the effects of yesterday’s rays, so no beach today – that said, couldn’t stomach the idea of indoor activities at an ocean location…wrong, just wrong.
How ‘bout a whale watch? I’d be on the water but could avoid additional sun exposure if necessary. GREAT idea! (thanks Stephen)
Boarded our ship at 10am – half-day adventure on the North Atlantic, sailing an hour+ northeast of Provincetown. My third whale watch – North Pacific humpbacks in Hawaii last January & orcas off the San Juan Islands in June 2015. Lucky in life 🙂
No more than 20 minutes into our voyage, whale spouts far in the distance. Boat stopped another 20 minutes in, where we watched a large pod of humpbacks feed. So many whales, super close to our ship. Just WOW!
Learned all about bubble net fishing – a technique humpbacks use to hunt as a skilled pack.
this technique…unique to humpback whales, the animals exhale through their blowholes while swimming in a tightening spiral so as to create a cylindrical wall of bubbles under the water. The wall of bubbles acts as a net that fish are reluctant to swim through. The whales then suddenly swim upwards through the bubble net, mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in each gulp. This technique can involve a ring of bubbles up to 30 m (100 ft) in diameter and the cooperation of a dozen animals. Some whales take the task of blowing the bubbles, some dive deeper to drive fish towards the surface, and others herd fish into the net by vocalizing.
Eye trained for lime-green patches of ocean, 15-20 seconds later the circular circus of whales emerge, mouths open, fish feeding.
Way beyond my expectation to see so many humpbacks. Whale of a day! Captain partially blamed our good fortune on global warming. Whales are traveling farther south from Canada’s Maritime provinces – while their food chain’s migrating northward along the US Atlantic seaboard to avoid warmer ocean waters. A perfect storm for whale feeding!
Back mid-afternoon in P-town – late lunch & a nap. Big plans for tonite – it’s my BIRTHDAY! 🙂
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- Provincetown harbor
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- bubble net fishing
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- crazy close — WOW!
Whale of a Tale: North Atlantic Humpbacks
