[lettie]

Whilst staying in Queenstown we spent a day exploring Doubtful Sound in Fjordland National Park. A 14 hour day of pure pleasure. Travelling by coach through the rolling farmland of Southland to Manapouri where we were boarding our boat to take us across Lake Manapouri to the Wilmott Pass and on to the beautiful Doubtful Sound.

The most popular of the fjords to visit has to be Milford Sound. Fearing that Milford would be teeming with tourists we opted for Doubtful. Doubtful sound was named in 1770 by Captain James Cook. As he observed the narrow entrance to the Sound he thought it doubtful that he would be able to steer his vessel into it in order to make a safe landing.

This remote wilderness is a haven for marine life including fur seals, bottlenose dolphins and Fjordland crested penguins. The Fjord is about 25 miles long and 1380 feet deep. It is flanked by mountains and rainforest and is breathtakingly gorgeous.

What strikes you the most here is the absolute silence. Miles away from any kind of civilisation when the engines to the boat were cut you could hear nothing except the occasional splash of the dolphins leaping out of the water. The water is very dark in colour due to the high rainfall in the area washing down the colouring from the vegetation which surrounds the Sound. This makes the water so dark that some of the normally deep water marine species live relatively close to the surface. We caught a glimpse of a couple of the penguins swimming rapidly underneath our boat. They were gone in a flash and we were unable to photograph them. The stars of the day had to be the dolphins who came out to play.

It was a lovely sunny day and the views were amazing. It was the best weather they had had down there all year and we were very lucky to be there. I'll never forget the tranquility of Doubtful Sound watching the seals and the dolphins. It does your heart good to watch these creatures playing and living in their natural environment without a care in the world.

Here are some views from Wilmott Pass overlooking Doubtful Sound, Doubtful Sound from the boat and the little island where the seals hang out. I couldn't resist including a couple of pics of our playful dolphins saying hello to us.