This morning we woke up in Queenstown and headed south toward Manapouri. We wound up in the First Arm of the Doubtful Sound. First we had to get around Lake Wakatipu. It seemed like we drove along the south arm of the lake for a long, long time. it really is a beautiful lake and has a depth of over 1,000 feet—going down about 300 feet below sea level.
We did hit some open countryside and didn't have quite as many twisty mountain roads to navigate.
The next transportation we did to get to Doubtful Sound was this Real New Zealand ferry up one of the arms of Lake Manapouri. We got a good head start to the middle of the lake when the captain got a distress call and we went back to the dock to pick up some travelers whose ship was out of commission and they needed a lift.
We started out our ferry ride on the top deck in the sun but not long after leaving the sheltered bay on Lake Manapouri, many people went down to the enclosed deck out of the chilly wind.
At the end of the ferry ride, we got on a bus for a portage over a pass to get to the Doubtful Sound. Bev and I picked a seat near an exit window. The road was a steep gravel road both up and down. Anyone who has traveled the Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park might think they were on a similar road.
We saw some rather fantastic waterfalls on our trip over the mountain including this one named Bridal Falls. We didn't see so many waterfalls that we had dreams about them.
Our first view of the Doubtful Sound was in the distance coming down the pass on the western side. The gorge on the left was just gorgeous.
Our room key for our small room down on the lower deck. In the background you can see the white of what would be the tallest waterfall in New Zealand except that it is a cascade rather than a waterfall.
In the evening, we were at the mouth of Doubtful Sound, looking out at the Tasman Sea, past the Rabbit Ear Rocks at a beautiful sunset. What a way to end the day!