After a brief stop at the very south end of the south island (Bluff - where we had some the most delicious tender Bluff oysters) we headed towards the fiords on the west coast so that we could get in some action on one of the famous sounds. The choices were Doubtful sound or the smaller and more popular Milford sound north of Doubtful (these are one of the most precious and spectacular places on earth and since 1984 have been recognised as a World Heritage Area!). After a little research we came to the conclusion that we would go on a day trip on the quieter, larger and less touristy Doubtful sounds (we have also heard from many people since that this is the best one to go on anyway).
Well, it's a case of water water everywhere and most of it you can drink! (Well the stuff without salt in it of course!) The sounds are areas of water that sit in the areas now vacated by the massive glaciers that carved through the moutain rock in the ice age. The lake we went across to get to the sound was 449m deep, which gives you some idea of the scale and depth of the glaciers back then. After the lake we took a 30 minute bus ride to Deep Cove where we got on the cruise boat. The bus trip was really where we started to get the flavour of what was lying ahead as we drive down through the cool temperate rain forest.....
Once on the boat we spent a good three hours travelling around the sound, in which time we saw seals, bottle nose dolphins and the most amazing display of waterfalls we think we will ever encounter! (The average yearly rainfall for Doubtful sound is 8m!!!)
You really couldnt count them! The skipper even steered the cruise boat under a waterfall so that we could all get a cup and catch some fresh water from one of the falls! It tasted great! (we of course got soaked in the process).
On the way back we visited the Manapouri power station (the construction of which is considered to be one of New Zealand's greatest ever engineering achievements) which is fuelled by the lakes water. This was down a 2km tunnel 200m under the ground!
What a great day out that was.
We also wanted to visit "Milford Deep" underwater observatory, so we then made our way north to the Milford sound. The sounds are unique in that there is so much rainfall each year that there is a permanent layer of fresh water on top of the sea water below. This water is stained from tannins giving it the colour of weak tea. This cuts out the light below and creats a deep water environment in shallow water. You therefore get deep water species that normally live below 40m thriving in these shallow areas and the observatory enables you to have a look. The observatory is a floating platform with a 10m deep shaft that you can go down and look out of through the windows into the moveable coral gardens (they move them up and down depending on the amount of rain and the depth of the fresh water layer, if the fresh water gets to the rare and precious black coral it dies) Aaaaanyway, we arrived expecting to get a shuttle boat across as advertised in the brochure that we picked up, only to find out that the brochure was 18 months old and they only do Milford Deep as part of the expensive day tour around the sounds!! So Dipi stuck out the bottom lip and we managed to get chaperoned across on our own cruiser!! Result!
So in the end we got to visit the Milford Deep observatory which was really cool!
The rare black coral that looks white due to the organisms that live on it.
Another picture through the looking glass..
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