13 November

'Real Tours' wharf - about 300m from Possum Lodge, was where we would start our tour at 9.45am. Although morning tea etc was provided, we would be away for the whole day so our bags needed to contain everything else we would need, including lunch. Whilst it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure their own bag has all they need, Nan ran through a list with Jake: Lunch... 'It's in the bag' Camera...'It's in the bag' Jumper....'It's in the bag' Hat....'It's in the bag' Rainjacket...'It's in the bag' .... Quite clearly he had it all well organised and it was all 'in the bag'! So off we set through the trees for the walk to the wharf.

After a boat trip across Lake Manapouri we joined a bus at the power station for the 25 minute trip across to the start of Doubtful Sound at Deep Bay. The driver gave an excellent commentary about slides, environmental features, wildlife and the history of the area. We stopped for some sight-seeing over Doubtful Sound, having passed some spectacular scenery. Aboard another boat for the trip up the sound. Can you get tired of steep cliffs, snow capped mountains, waterfalls? Not really, but we did realise that photographing every snow capped mountain was just going to provide us with thousands of pictures of snow capped mountains, so we sat back and just enjoyed the scenery. Perhaps we needed to be a little more vigilant about Jake's movements about the boat. Judging by the number of hot chocolate sachets that came out of his bag later that night, I think the supply was somewhat dwindled by a resourceful lad!

The weather had settled enough for us to go out of the mouth of the sound into the Tasman Sea, where on an island at the entrance a colony of seals were basking on the rocks. The weather inside the sound was calm, so the boat motors were cut for some period and we were able to listen to the sounds of the wilderness. On this occasion the weather was in our favour, because it rains 2 days out of 3 for 8 months of the year.

As we started our return trip we went into Crooked Fjord, where local dolphins gave an excellent display of their leaping abilities before swimming for some distance alongside the boat. These Bottlenose Dolphins - the same species as back home, are much larger - apparently due to the extremely cold water in which they live and the resultant need to carry a greater layer of blubber.

Interestingly, we saw no more than one or two other small boats on the Sound during the whole day so there really was a feeling that we had been in the wilderness. Being less well known than the nearby Milford Sound, which has an abundance of tourism and large boats plying its waters it is a truly magical place.

Back up the sound at full speed and onto the bus again for the trip to the Power Station, where we drove down the 2km tunnel to view the underground hydroelectric power station, owned by Meridion. This was an amazing, yet daunting experience. There is a reason why NZ is sometimes referred to as "The shaky isles" and here we were down a tunnel 2km underground. Water seeped through the walls onto the roadway. I think Jake was a little concerned, as were we all so we whilst it was incredibly interesting, we were all a little relieved to see daylight again!

Once again passed many of the spectacular waterfalls that are so prevalent in this area then back to the wharf.

While Bill and I walked up to a local shop for milk, Jacob stayed at the camp and made sandwiches for dinner. A busy day. Nobody felt like cooking - especially me!