We were picked up at 11.30am for the short drive over to Manapouri to pick up a boat to take us across the lake.
We then picked up a bus to take us the 20km over Wilmot Pass to the start of Doubtful Sound.
Finally aboard our boat the Fiorland Navigator and we were pretty impressed with it. It was clear that we were in "peasant class" with our quad share cabin, but hey doors are over rated and curtains are just fine. Introductions were made with our roomates Prunella and Sabina from Sweeden, they seemed nice and we decided we'd survive.
Apart from the incredible scenery (I'll leave the pics to do the talking for that) the highlight for me was the food!
Freshly baked muffins were there to greet us and we had soup in the afternoon to warm us up after a trip out in the tender boats. Dinner was amazing as was breakfast, fantastic choice. Of course little Michelle was all sensible sticking to just one thing, whereas I piled everything on one plate whether they went or not - I can heartily recommend cheese cake, fruit salad and pavalova as a desert combo.
Handley - can I just add that Michelle's combination of smoked salmon and roast lamb and gravy didn't go down as well though!!
Hudson:
Sat with really fun Danish couple Jasper and Annette at dinner. Conversation was a little strained initially, but we bonded through some light hearted bitchiness! There was a really over bearing Aussie lady called Sue who took it upon herself to "Meet the boat". Her heart was in the right place no doubt about that, but she was a bit full on and got everyone to sign her holiday memory book before leaving the boat. Annette however lied and said she had signed it when she hadn't - funny!
The cruise took us to the end of the sound (which is actually a fiord as it was made by glaciers and not a river!) and to the start of the Tasman Sea. Things got quite choppy, but it was worth it as sailed right up to a seal and crested penguin colony.
We were lucky with the weather, not much in the way of sunshine, but it stayed dry and not too overcast so views were good.
Was pretty cool walking out onto the deck at night and experiencing the silence and darkness if that doesn't sound too arty farty!
Back to Top 10 for lunchtime and we've done absolutely nothing! It's not stopped raining all day, but we were in desperate need of a battery recharge and a bit of downtime, so not feeling too guilty vegging infront of the TV!!
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