Cooks sound

5:45 the alarm clock rings. A terrible noise at such an ungodly hour. I would love to throw the thing out the window, turn around and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that's not possible today. The boat departs for the Doubtful Sound Wilderness Tour at 8:00 a.m.

A boat trip is fun, a boat trip is .... cold. Today the weather is cloudy and 7 degrees cold. And felt even colder due to the wind. 🥶🥶🥶

You probably can't imagine what Doubtful Sound is like, can you? The sounds here are fjords. There are two well-known fjords around Te Anau, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. Both flow into the Tasman Sea. Based on recommendations, we chose Doubtful Sound, also known as the "Sound of the silent". The first ship departs from Manapouri (30 minutes away from our hotel) and takes us across Lake Manapouri.

After 50 minutes, we switch to a bus. This bus takes us over New Zealand's most expensive road, the Wilmot Pass, which is not even paved. Instead, the gravel road is lined with, I guess, 6-10 meter high tree walls.

Respect and recognition to the one who cut the trees so straight. (I don't think I've ever written 3 articles in a row before - oh well, moving on).

After another 40 minutes, up and down the mountain, we reach the fjord ship. The weather still hasn't improved.

But let's not complain, it could also rain or snow. On average, between 20-25 mm of precipitation is said to fall here per day. So we're really lucky.

By the way, this fjord was discovered by none other than Thomas Cook. Yes, he didn't just roam around Australia. But he found this body of water too "doubtful" to navigate. Thus, the fjord got its name, but Cook never sailed it.

What awaited us were bizarre rock formations covered with moss, ferns, and trees that extend into the fjord.

Beautiful waterfalls

and lots of animals. From seagulls to dolphins,

penguins to

seals,

which live on islands at the mouth of the fjord. It has something captivating to stand on deck and glide along this dreamlike scenery. The only downside was that we had to go inside the ship every 20 minutes to warm up.

After 7 hours and with lots of great impressions, we were back at the hotel.

Time for a round of ........ Frisbee Golf. We have to move at least once a day. 9 baskets and what can I say, improved by 4 points again.

I will watch some YouTube videos about "throwing techniques" in my hotel room.