The van for the Doubtful Sound cruise picked us up early. It was a long journey that took us all day and we were thankful for a day without driving. The first leg of the journey took us to Manapouri Visitor Center, where we bought lunch and boarded a boat across Lake Manapouri to West Arm, the Manapouri Power Station, from there a bus took us across Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove where we finally took a 3-hour-long cruise on the Doubtful Sound fjords – and then the process was repeated in reverse order to bring us back to Queenstown.
At the Manapouri Power Station, we read about electricity
being generated by water from Lake Manapouri. We also learned of the life cycle
of the te namu, the sandflies that bit us, which thrive in swift flowing
streams.
The bus is the only land transportation available from the
power station to Deep Cove. It stopped at a few lookout points for us to take
pictures.
We ate our lunch on the fjords cruise and drank latte,
coffee, and hot chocolate, while admiring the scenery with lots of waterfalls.
Liên made friends with a couple who wanted her to tell them about hiking places
in Hawaii.
For dinner, we ate at Big Fig. Liên and I shared a big plate.
Debbie and I bought some snacks for our upcoming hike. Then we settled in for
another night in Queenstown.
That one was a long day!
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