This morning, it was still dark when we arrived at the dock on Lake Manapouri. We boarded a boat that took us down the lake in the direction the Doubtful Sound. On route, the sun was just rising.
It looked like the weather was going to be clear, but on the
Sound they have their own weather, and get an average of 12 meters of rain a
year. Twelve meters is as high as a four story building. The captain of the
boat announced that he was doubtful it would be sunny on the
Sound.
An hour later at the end of the Lake, we disembarked and
loaded onto a bus. The bus took us over the 22 km Wilmot Pass to Doubtful
Sound. The road was gravel and rough at times, but the driver, Shawn not only
handled the bus with skill, he also provided a wonder commentary that included history and geography lessons, along with his
personal experiences of the area.
Doubtful Sound got its
name when Captain Cook first discovered it in 1770. Cook was doubtful, if he
sailed into the Sound that he would be able to sail back out, given the
uncertain winds caused by the steep terrain. When we arrived,
we too were doubtful. We doubted that we were going to see the real Doubtful
Sound weather that had almost been guaranteed. We were looking for our share of the
12 meters of annual rainfall. How could we experience the Sound and its temperate rainforest
in action, without rain?
As we headed out into the Sound, there was nothing but sunshine, blue sky and few puffy white
clouds. We were disappointed, but they said the weather could change with only a moment's notice. So we waited patiently as we sailed on. We had been warned to, "bring
a sense of humour for the unexpected". This was the unexpected, so we smiled
and laughed as we basked in the sun on the top deck, and clicked pictures
without hardship. The scenery was spectacular, the cliffs, waterfalls, dolphins,
a seal, and more.
We made it out to the Tasman Sea and back, patiently hoping
for rain, lots of rain. In the end, we would have settled for fog. So as
Captain Cook had doubts about the weather at the Sound, we too had the same kind
of doubt during our discovery of the appropriately named, Doubtful Sound.
Click here for the next story in this series: http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2014/03/the-routeburn-so-much-more.html
