Kinloch, Te Anau and Doubtful Sound

We rented a car in Dunedin and drove across central Otago to the Queenstown area.  We’re not big on crowds, so we just drove through the city and proceeded along the edge of Lake Wakatipu to the small town of Kinloch.  Kinloch is near one end of the famous Routeburn hiking track that heads up into the mountains, and there’s a nice hostel and lodge there where we stayed for two nights.  The next day dawned sunny, so we headed out for a day hike on the Routeburn track.  The bird life and beauty along the track kept us well entertained for the day.  We were glad we went when we did – that night the temperature dropped and it rained hard, which meant snow at the higher elevations, and the Department of Conservation closed a section of the Routeburn track near where we hiked due to avalanche danger.

Mountains beyond Lake Wakatipu, from Kinloch Lodge

Mt. Aspiring National Park

Our nominee for "Trail toilet with best location"

Rat and stoat traps to reduce number of predators eating native birds

Rifleman seen along the track

Suspension bridge on the Routeburn Track

Mountain stream

Fresh snow on the mountains, day after we hiked

After leaving Kinloch, we drove several hours south and west to the town of Te Anau.  Te Anau is smaller than Queenstown, but is another base for outdoor recreation due to its proximity to the Fiordland area that includes Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.  We walked along the Lake Te Anau shore, seeing a variety of baby birds out in the warm spring sunshine. 

Baby fantail

Paradise Shelduck mom and babies

The next day we drove to Manapouri and started an overnight trip on Doubtful Sound with Fiordland Expeditions.  There were three other couples on the boat (two from Australia, one from Christchurch), and the three local crew members were led by Josh, who was our talkative and interesting leader, driver, and cook - having been a chef for Japan Air for three years, he prepared very good food for all of us.

Kiwi ingenuity at its best - old van repurposed as the Fiordland Expeditions trailer

Coming down from Wilmot Pass toward the Deep Cove (seen in center) entrance to Doubtful Sound 

Josh, our wonderful leader, driver and cook

Our home for two days

Doubtful Sound is quite remote – to get there, you take a water taxi across Lake Manapouri, then a bus ride across Wilmot Pass to get to Deep Cove, where our boat was waiting.  The Sound is huge, with many arms, and we saw very few other boats in the two days we were out there.  We explored the mouth of the Sound close to the ocean first.  Most of the group tried their hand at fishing, catching cod and even a small shark, which were later prepared for their dinner.  Josh and another crew member donned wet suits and dove into the water, coming up half an hour later with a pot of “crayfish” (Kiwi for lobsters), which were also part of dinner.

Coming into the main sound from Deep Cove

Mouth of Doubtful Sound, on the Tasman Sea

We spent the night anchored in the calm waters of Precipice Cove, where it was absolutely quiet.  We got up early for a quick first breakfast followed by several hours of kayaking around the cove.  After a larger breakfast, we explored several other fiords and coves, seeing some fine waterfalls, before heading back to Manapouri later on the second day.  While there are 70-person day trips on larger boats to Doubtful Sound, we very much enjoyed the smaller boat experience, especially in good weather with friendly fellow passengers and crew.

 

Waterfall up close