“You are now entering Doubtful Sound,” the captain booms over the speakers.
We are aboard our boat for the cruise of the fiords, marvelling at the intensely green forests (courtesy of more than 200 days of rain a year) and the sheer, razor-sharp slopes of the mountains. There is a pervading fog over the water, and when it lifts…
Well, words fail to describe the natural splendour of Doubtful Sound. And no words are needed as few of the passengers are in conversation. Everyone is either busy snapping photographs or leaning over the railings, silently experiencing the view and the environment.
There are waterfalls around every bend (or so it seems). The largest of these, the Helena Falls and the Browne Falls, can have falls of over 600 metres, especially during the rainy season. Long and winding, the 40.4 kilometre-long Doubtful Sound is also the deepest of New Zealand’s fiords at 421 metres deep.
It’s magical and a little melancholic, the way the mists would roll down the cliffs on both banks of the fiord. There no signs of human life, except for our fellow passengers on the boat (there are no other boats, adding to the lovely sense of seclusion) and a little hut we spot on an islet, possibly for the locals who work in park conservation.
We can head into the cabin at any time for a tea break or lunch at our leisure. Passengers have a choice of cold sandwiches for lunch or some Korean ramyum (spicy cup noodles). You go for the latter, incongruous as it may seem; it warms you up after the chilly winds above, on the deck.
As we approach the open sea, the mists part and we hear the thunderous roar of the waves breaking on the rocks. This is where colonies of fur seals bask, even when there isn’t much sun. Their tremulous calls add an orchestral note to the sound of the waves, of Mother Nature.
Our boat turns around at Secretary Island, the largest island of the fiord closest to the sea. Slowly the waters get calmer again. Unusually, there are two distinct layers of water – fresh water above, from the rains, flowing from the surrounding mountains, and a layer of warmer and salt water from the sea beneath – that do not mix.
Suddenly we spot a fin in the water. Not a shark, surely? The strange creature surfaces and we realise it’s a dolphin! Doubtful Sound is home to one of the southernmost populations of bottlenose dolphins. They are an incredibly close group of friendly animals that will often go near boats and play around them, much to our delight.
According to our guide, there are other wildlife here in the fiord, including penguins and large whales such as the humpback and the minke, though these aren’t often seen. It’s enough to be here, to enjoy the silence and contemplate a world where so few humans have ever encroached upon. When it’s time to say farewell to Doubtful Sound, it’s with a heavy heart and a promise to return.