Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise Day 1

We woke up feeling chilly and got out of our crib to find the hills looking a bit different, and yes of course, there's the fresh snow from yesterday night! No wonder we are freezing in there! OMG so happy that it's snowing still though middle of spring! We just love the snow caps!

Today is the beginning of another wonderful trip! Our Doubtful Sound crusie~~~~ So we travelled from this free camp spot half way between Queenstown to Manapouri, to Lake Manapouri. And the journey along is sooooo beautiful!!!!

Here we are at Lake Manapouri!! Loving this beautiful landscapeeee.. This is where we board on the Real Journey Doubtful Sound Cruise***** It's an overnight cruise along the Doubtful Sound fiord which is part of the Fiordland National Park area. We paid $263 each for a quad share cabin with 10% discount for using YHA card (only if you buy directly from Real Journey).

It was a trip to remember. First, we cruise along Lake Manapouri which is the third largest lake in NZ . The lake is so beautiful, surrounded by snow capped mountains all around. It was a 45 min ride before we reach the power station which is the transit point to a coach.

Beautiful day at Lake Manapouri, PERFECT!!!

Giant Eagle cloud~~~ :)

The coach ride took 1 hour, going real slowly with the driver as the nature guide showing us the ancient beech trees, waterfalls and lookouts along the way.

A viewpoint of the beginning of the sound!

The cruise is especially spectacular during rainy days when you can see hundreds or thousand of waterfall all along the fiord!!!

We reach the wharf and board the overnight boat, Navigator something.. We got settled in the 4 bed dorm, shared with another Malaysian couple we met on the coach, Tony and Stephanie. It was really nice meeting other Malaysian working holidayers. We stick together throughout this cruise. Our comfy bed for the night~

Super tall waterfall, imagine them doubling them doubling their width on rainy days ... nice...

Mystery looking Fiord :) 

Welcomed by a muffin and variety of tea and coffee, we were definitely looking forward to dinner! Highly promoted as scrumptious, yummy licious buffet.. Woohoo can't wait. But before that, we cruise around the main highlights of this tour, the Doubtful Sound. This place isn't actually a 'sound' (meaning landscape that had been shaped by river) but is actually a Fiord. Fiord is a Norwegian word meaning landscape that was shaped by glaciers which is what these famous Doubtful Sound and Milford sound is all about. Because back then they have not found a suitable word for it, they just call it a sound.

We stop at a safe place for water activities like kayaking, swimming and small boat cruising. We chose kayaking around this beautiful Blanket Bay, guided by crew of the boat. It was only 45 min of kayaking, but it feels nice getting close to the sound and see some Weka (wood hen) around. there were even a 'hotel' in this little island. Its funny, but it isn't really a hotel, it is just a hut for the crayfish fishermans and freezer facility.

Blanket Bay "Hotel"

 Oystercatcher

As there are so much rain in this area, above this saltwater is a thick layer of freshwater which actually makes this seawater not that salty, peter tested the water and prove it's really not salty!

Back to the boat for a hot shower and then greeted by hot soup and bun. Yums! Then cruise again to look for the Fiordland Crested penguins.

Beyond this rocks, is the open sea.... very rough water there, so our captain is careful not to throw us overboard!

Little fairy penguins spotted swimming along...

The seal colony... 

Here we are!! Fiordland crested penguin. These guys are just super cute!!! Yellow 'eyebrows', hahaha..  and with their walking posture, they are just a sight to watch! But they are quite far away from where our boat is, so it's really hard to get a good picture. 

Dinner TIME!!! 

All you can eat on the buffet line: Smoked salmon, mussels, roast lamb, beef, chicken, veggies, kumara (sweet potato), salad.. Dessert: pavlova, caramel cheesecake, choc mud cake, blueberries crumble, fruits... Cheese platter..

OMG really can we finish this?

Finger licking good!

Tough night for our stomachs, processing all the NZ goodies!

Before ending this fully packed day with food for our eyes and stomach, we're had some food for thoughts... At the end of our dinner, the crew showed us some slides about the history and facts of this fiord, as well as how NZ as first was a part of Australia in Gondwana continent but drifted out and out away to the south. And  then an Australian commented, "NZ haven't drifted far enough". Woooo, that raise a lot of voices then.. Hehe... Funny how the OZs and Kiwis always tease each other!