Up at 4:45 am to catch the shuttle bus at 6:30 to Manapouri. Overcast.
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| Before boarding the catamaran we picked up our ordered lunches for the trip.
Our excursion begins with a cruise across the crystal clear waters of Lake Manapouri
to West Arm. |
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| We took the catamaran across Lake Manapouri. This lake is regarded New Zealand's most charming and beautiful lake. Then a bus ride (red line near the centre) to the next larger catamaran. |
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| Quite hazy and cold. |
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| The sun came out and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We have been so blessed with the weather. Amazing Grace.  |
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| Bottlenosed Dolphin leaping in the air. They can reach up to 10 feet in length. They are among the largest known of their species and are much larger than dolphins in temperate or tropical habitats. Doubtful Sound is home to a resident pod of around 60 bottlenose dolphins. It was an honour to view a couple and to get this picture. |
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| Beautiful mountains on both sides. |
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| Doubtful Sound is situated within the Fiordland's 3 million acre National Park. |
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| Fur seals, actually sea lions at the mount of the Tasman Sea. Doubtful Sound lies at the geographical heart of Fiordland. This is where we turned around. |
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Rain forest is a term associated with tropical regions, but Fiordland can claim a
rain forest of a temperate kind, jungle-dense and complete with vines, perching plants
like orchids, and tree and ground ferns in profusion. On valley floors large podocarp
trees, notably rimu, compete with many beech varieties. Stunning colors. |
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| The colors and different trees were breathtaking. A tree with red flowers. Forgot the name. |
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| Waterfalls off the mountains are a constant with all the rain. |
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| Coming off the catamaran to take the bus again. |
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| The bus stopped for this gorgeous view. Wilmot Pass.
Wilmot Pass Road : The 22 km Wilmot Pass Road between Doubtful Sound and Lake
Manapouri is one of New Zealand's remotest roads. The road was built in the mid
1960s to provide heavy equipment access for the construction of the power station.
Weather conditions lengthened the project to 2 years.
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| Included in this tour was the underground Manapouri Power Plant tour. |
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| A 2 km tunnel where the bus took us to the actual plant. Immy is getting off the bus, with Peter in the front. Not a clear picture. |
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| 7 turbines Manapouri is the largest hydro power station in NZ. and is located on the edge of Lake
Manapouri is an underground power station, with its generating units housed in a
cavern excavated from rock 200 metres below the surface of Lake Manapouri.
The project took 1800 workers eight years to complete in extremely harsh conditions.
The station was fully commissioned in 1972.
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| We seem to be spending a lot of time underground or in the air! |
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| Final transfer to the catamaran. |
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| Enjoying the warm sun. |
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| The snow capped mountain has the same name as the catamaran. Mt. Titiroa. 1710 meters high. |
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| Back to where we started or tour. The bus was waiting to drive us back to the campground. |
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| Today we took the bus, boat, bus, boat, bus, boat and bus back to campground. |
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| Enjoying the sunshine. Completely caught up with blogging. You get to read about tomorrows adventures today. lol. Best day ever. |
I don't have to make too many comments about your tour ... your smiles say it all! It seems like every day gets even more beautiful! Totally awesome scenery!
ReplyDeleteTell Immy to get some sun block on! You must just fall into bed at night exhausted, but still wound up from the gorgeous sights you have experienced!
You are definitely making this a trip of a lifetime that you will never forget!
Love Janice & Paul
I like the picher of the dolphin it was cute
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the picture you took of the dolphin! Your timing was just right.
ReplyDeleteSo far the scenery has been amazing. Sometimes the scenery reminds me of Alaska (when I see the mountains) and sometimes Newfoundland (when I see the awesome coastline pictures). Manpouri/Manapouri (?) reminds me very much of the boat cruise we took in Gros Morne Park on the west cost of Newfoundland.
It only goes to prove that nothing is as spectacular as God's creation - no matter which part of the world you're in!
Jennie
Great pictures and commentary Alida. Now we are really jealous.
ReplyDeleteDear Marcel and Alida.
ReplyDeleteGenieten jullie veel en valt het je tegen of mee, deze reis.
Jullie zullen nu wel in Australië zijn denk ik en genieten van alle bekende die jullie niet kennen!!. Haha.
We hebben al wel 1 e-mail van jullie gelezen en was het heftig en zaten jullie op het noorder eiland.
Zijn jullie ook op het Zuidereiland geweest?
Alida nog last van haar rug met al dat reizen?
Wij wensen jullie nog een heeeeel fijne vakantie toe en geniet er van. Het
Knuf van Grietje en gr. van Jan.