We’ve collected countless friends, experiences and memories carved deep. These last few weeks we’ve mostly been working, literally from dawn till dusk. Two lads from Budejovice will probably never rack up that many hours again – possibly because they’ll never work again (or rather, don’t want to).
New Zealand’s quietest fjord, where time stood still
If there’s one place that forces you to go quiet and breathe deeply, it’s Doubtful Sound. While its more famous brother Milford Sound is bursting at the seams with tourists, Doubtful Sound just keeps drifting along at its own pace. No coaches, no queues — just endless mountains, waterfalls, mist and a silence that wraps itself around you.
Down here in the south of New Zealand, in the heart of Fiordland National Park, time really has stood still.
You’ve probably worked out by now that we were on the edge of mental collapse. The lift came from our friend Roman, who invited us on a cruise. Feed the cows, check the fences, pack the backpack and off we go towards Queenstown. Queenstown again – if there’s anywhere we’ll want to come back to in future, it’s that town!
The ancient Maori call Doubtful Sound Patea – The place of silence. The Czech translation sounds blunt, so we’d rather stick with the English one.
It lies in the part of New Zealand’s South Island known as Fiordland National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. More people visit the better-known, further-flung and more affordable Milford Sound. You can’t really say one is better or worse. Doubtful Sound simply isn’t as busy with tourists as Milford Sound, which stands to reason.
Only two companies operate here, Real Journeys and Go Orange. Real Journeys was the very first operator, among other things. The cruise is considerably more expensive and takes longer, including the travel to get there.
How to get to Doubtful Sound
At first glance it might look complicated, but trust me — getting there is part of the experience.
1️⃣ Start in Manapouri – a small town about 20 minutes from Te Anau.
2️⃣ Boat across Lake Manapouri – a gorgeous 45 minutes among mountains and islands.
3️⃣ Bus over Wilmot Pass – a narrow road through rainforest and mountains (the most isolated road in New Zealand).
4️⃣ Boat into the fjord – you board at Deep Cove and finally sail into Doubtful Sound.
The Doubtful Sound cruise schedule
The cruise starts at Lake Manapouri in a harbour aptly named Pearl Harbour. No unexpected air raids befell us, and with Real Journeys we spent about 45 minutes crossing Lake Manapouri. On board there are free hot drinks (instant coffee and tea) and a paid bar.
The crossing ends at the hydroelectric power station on the far shore of Lake Manapouri. From there we get straight onto a bus and travel through Wilmot Pass (one of the most expensive roads ever built in New Zealand) into the Doubtful Sound area. The drive took just under an hour and the driver makes stops along the way. New Zealand is forever showing off its birdlife and flora.
Sailing through Doubtful takes three hours and that time really is worth it! Besides the main circuit, the boat also heads into the individual arms (First Arm, Crooked Arm and Hall Arm), where the views are genuinely breathtaking. Right at the end we reach the open sea, where fur seals bask on the rocks, waves break against rocky massifs and, were it not for a certain amount of common sense, we’d happily take life as lightly as those seals do.
Expectation versus reality
A sound is a sound? Doubtful Sound doesn’t have a Mitre Peak like its rival Milford Sound, but in exchange you have the fjords right in front of you the whole time. Expect fewer people, and a more personal overall impression – it’s as if you merge with the place.
The weather definitely matters. We got mist with the sun peeking through here and there. It’s hard to plan for, it rains here constantly, so it’s more a question of luck. In very bad weather the company refunds your money.
Expect a friendlier atmosphere from the crew and the other passengers too, because the cruises aren’t as frequent as on rival Milford Sound. The captain, for instance, switches the engines off for a few minutes so you can hear the sounds of the animal world or the murmur of the sea – and he has no problem telling noisy people to pipe down so they don’t spoil it for everyone else.
The price of a Doubtful Sound cruise
The cruise we took costs $249 without lunch and with your own transport to Manapouri. With lunch it comes to around $309.
The overnight cruise costs from $485 to $800, but the programme alone looks promising: dinner and breakfast, kayaking, a private cabin and night-time stargazing.
Using the discount portal bookme.co.nz you can get decent prices for both options. Or go straight to the operators’ websites, Real Journeys or Go Orange
What we think
As we said, the weather didn’t let us see Doubtful in its full glory, because most of it was hidden behind mist – but whenever the mist cleared, it was spectacular. Not counting the journey to Doubtful itself, the cruise takes about as long as Milford Sound. What was obvious, though, is that unlike at Milford you get to watch those towering fjords the entire time.
The best moment was when the captain – though pretty much the whole crew took a turn at the wheel – killed the engines and called for quiet, and we simply let ourselves drift and finally stopped consuming and started soaking up the real atmosphere, with silence all around.
We probably wouldn’t do the cruise at full price and would go for the more commercial Milford Sound instead; on the other hand, according to a few people’s reviews the overnight cruise is unforgettable. It’s good to experience both and not compare them, because obviously you get one thing for $40 and something quite different for $250. Or are we wrong?
