Doubtful Sound
The remotest place we've ever been
Today, we get up at five, pack our stuff and arrive at Fiordland Wilderness Experiences at six. This is the start of our two-day kayaking trip in Doubtful Sound. The weather forecast is ok, the show will go on.
We drive to Manapouri, where a water taxi is waiting to take us to the power station at other side of Lake Manapouri. Wilderness Will, our fearless leader, drives us from the power station over Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound. The road over Wilmot Pass was built as a supply route to the power station and is not connected to any other road. It stretches from Doubtful Sound to Lake Manapouri and due to the hard granite rock it is carved out of, it's the most expensive road in New Zealand. We learn this from our guide Will who shares many more interesting tidbits of knowledge along the way.
Doubtful Sound is simply stunningly beautiful. Especially when it starts raining, after lunch time: waterfalls start popping up everywhere and finally the sandflies disappear. It's impossible to adequately describe the beauty and mystery of Doubtful Sound. The pictures do a better job, although it's nothing compared to being there of course.
At the end of the day, we pull our kayaks into the rainforest somewhere in Haul Arm. The rain's still pouring from the skies, as it does two out of three days on average here. We set up our tent and then get out of our kayaking gear: Sou'wester, life jacket, fleece hat, spray skirt, rain jacket, fleece sweater, wetsuit and polyprop skin layer. All soaking wet of course. Getting in to our warm dry camping clothes is a bit of a challenge, since every square inch of bare skin is immediately attacked by hordes of sandflies.
All nine of us spend the night in comfort in our rain- and sandfly free shelter. All the time it's pouring of course. Will tells us that there are no dangerous animals or poisonous plants here, but warns us that we should be careful not to trip over anything. If you break a bone, it takes a rescue team at least half a day to reach you. At night, we hear the rain hitting our tent, an ever growing river runs right past us, and we even hear some kiwis - the birds, not the people.
