now, where was i?

• oh, yes, doubtful sound . . . a week ago. or more. so i decided i wanted to see the fiords (incorrectly named 'sounds' by the earliest european explorers - a sound is an inlet carved by the mouth of a river, whereas fiords are created by retreating glaciers), and i had time for just one, a day trip from queenstown. i picked doubtful sound over milford because it seemed more remote and less trafficked - a bit more expensive and time-consuming to get to, but well worth the effort.
• so the tour company sent a cab for me at 6.30 am - can't get away from those early mornings - and on the way to the departure point, we picked up a handful of other tourists. the coach ride was a good two hours (those of us going to doubtful sound had to get off and join up with another coach at a 'designated meeting spot' which appeared to be in the middle of nowhere) and then we took a sort of large water taxi/ferry for an hour-long ride across lake manapouri (sp?), where we were met by another coach for a twenty minute drive to the ship that would take us out on doubtful sound. meanwhile we really hadn't seen any other people besides those who worked for the tour company, and no homes or businesses - 'remote' was no exaggeration.
• the ferry ride across the lake was beautiful - calm water, little green islands all around, and so quiet, except for the sound of the boat's motors. unfortunately it became overcast and started to rain part way through the trip, though this wasn't entirely unexpected. the fiords are located in a temperate rain forest of the kind only found below 40 degrees latitude - they get something like 260 days of rain each year.
• the misty weather created a surreal atmosphere - when we left deep cove (where the tour ships begin their cruise of doubtful sound) i felt as if we were leaving the known world and entering some enchanted place - avalon or something. i wished i was on a much smaller, quieter boat - preferably a sail boat - because only the roar of the ship's engines broke the stillness, which was otherwise a deep silence punctuated by occasional bird calls. i'm not even sure how to describe doubtful sound other than isolated and surreal and enchanted - we saw just a handful of other water craft (a few kayaks, one or two motor boats, and closer to the tasman sea, a gigantic cruise ship, the 'rhapsody of the seas'). all around the granite walls of the fiord towered over us, nearly vertical but somehow still covered with lush vegetation: mosses, lichen, and trees all clinging to the sheer rock face. in some places, long scars in the greenery marked where a tree near the top of the cliff had fallen, causing a rockslide and tearing out all the vegetation below on its path to the water.
• we spent three or four hours on the water and cruised all the way to the tasman sea, where we saw a colony of nz fur seals sunning themselves on a rocky island - well, i guess they weren't sunning themselves, since it was still overcast, but they were resting after their night-time feeding excursion. on the way back to deep cove, we pulled into a little inlet and the captain shut down the motors and communications system for a few minutes so we could hear how quiet the place was - aside from the people rustling beside me on the prow of the boat, i heard nothing but a few birds and the breaking of waves. i've never been anywhere so quiet and dreamy and apparently untouched by civilization. it was a real highlight of my trip and kind of made up for the whole canyoning fiasco.
• unfortunately, it took as long to get back to queenstown as it did to get to doubtful sound that morning. . . i guess that's how it usually works. after the previous sleepless night, i was exhausted and slept most of the coach ride. i was thrilled to see that the sonorous sleeper had been replaced by a small, quiet-looking german girl. she said she didn't snore - what a relief. i slept like a baby and was out the door at dawn the next day for the next-to-last leg of my trip: christchurch and kaikoura!