We were up early and waiting to board a small vessel to cross Lake Manapouri. Fifty minutes later we boarded a shuttle boat to drive across the amazing Wilmott Pass to board the Tutoko 2, our home for the next 2 days. A hardy vessel (we thought) and a cosy little cabin to ourselves. Our shipmates (of which there were 9) and 4 crew were all nice.
Apart from one kiwi who lives in Perth the rest of the tourists were young Americans. One young guy is an astronomer from NASA! Doubtful Sound is beautiful, the weather was perfect and we sat on the top deck with cups of tea and home baking watching the mountains slide by. As we approached the Tasman Sea, a wall of cloud appeared and we were swallowed into it, immediately the weather took on a new and slightly menacing feeling.Almost like we had entered the King Kong Movie.
We had a quick look at the seal colony and re-entered the sounds. It was a whole day just sliding through the water, we stopped to let a crew member dive for some crayfish. Lance's favourite meal. And he popped up with half a dozen. Nice birthday meal in store for Lance.
Then we were off to another cove for some fishing, I caught a small shark (dog fish) and another thing too small. But Lance pulled in a couple worth eating, still a happy man. I went kayaking and then braved a dip off the side of the boat.
I was astonished at how warm it was with the odd cold patches. And the fresh water made it a tiring swim, but delicious.
Later as we were about to tuck into our crayfish the skipper came and explained a "situation". There was a hole in the boat. Honest, that is what he said. He said not to worry, it was only a small hole and they would strap a plank of wood over it for the night. We all tried to look casual as a very long plank was taken down into the hold. Anyway, we didn't sink so it must have worked, but they have had to cancel the next couple of cruises. After our four courses which included freshly caught fish we popped back on deck to watch the Dolphins playing around our boat. It was so peaceful with hardly any other boats around. All in all a fantastic thing to do, highly recommended in the scheme of things you must do in NZ. Fiordland Explorer.
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