Doubtful Sound – sounds doubtful?

“Sound” means a long inlet of the sea between high cliffs, much like a fjord, but wider. When Captain Cook reached this spot on the south-west corner of New Zealand during his discovery voyage to “down under” he was doubtful whether his sailing ship could enter it, and he named it “doubtful”.

Doubtful Sound is more difficult to access, and consequently much less popular, than its more famous neighbour, Milford Sound. True to our nature of picking the less traveled places we chose the former.

Map of New Zealand showing Doubtful Sound position
Route map Queenstown to Doubtful Sound, New Zealand

To reach Doubtful Sound we had to first drive for 2 hours from Queenstown to Manapouri, a tiny village with a population of 228 (yes, 228!) where we stayed overnight at the only hotel and ate at the only restaurant.  Next morning we joined the tour that would take us to Doubtful Sound.

Mountain view from Manapouri Lake, New Zealand
Mesmerizing mountains and clouds, New Zealand
Snow capped mountains and shadows at Manapouri, New Zealand

The tour started with a long boat ride across the large Manapouri lake ringed by hills, and lined with many sandy and gravel beaches. A number of islands pop up all over the lake. Verdant greenery and lovely views made the boat ride very pleasant indeed.

Once off the boat we got into a bus, crossed over the Wilmot Pass and down the hillside to the Manapouri underground power station. It is New Zealand’s largest hydroelectric power station located deep beneath Fiordland.

En route to Manapouri Power station, NZ
Machine Hall, Manapouri Power plant, NZ - credit Wikipedia
A colorful bird

Lake Manapouri stands nearly 600 feet above sea level and has a large catchment area. The water runs down to the power station and generates 800 MW of power before exiting into the Sound.  The walk through the power station was very interesting, especially for those who had not seen anything like it, particularly the giant turbines humming away in the machine hall.

Views from the coach ride: 

Waterfalls down the cliffs, NZ
Pretty little streams
More waterfalls

Next came the main attraction – the Sound.

A large and very modern catamaran, complete with a big lounge, a bar and plenty of viewing spots, awaited us. Off we went into the Sound, all the way for a 3-hour cruise to the Tasman sea.

View of Mountains, Doubtful Sound, NZ
On the catamaran in New Zealand
Doubtful Sound cruise, NZ

Doubtful Sound is bordered by towering vertical cliffs with a wide expanse of water in between. There were hardly any other boats around as we cruised slowly on the rippling water.  Birds flitted among the trees and shrubs lining the cliff walls. The only sounds in the silence were bird calls and the gentle thump of the engine.

But true silence was yet to come !

The boat veered off into a little bay through a gap in the cliff wall and an announcement was heard over the boat’s PA system “Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering the silence zone.  Please remain absolutely silent”.  The engine was turned off as was the ventilation system in the lounge.  Everyone almost froze in anticipation and even a soft whisper earned a frown from a crew member.

Amazing reflections and shadows
Doubtful sounds fiordland, New Zealand

Then followed ten enchanting minutes of true silence. The boat rocked very gently on tiny waves.  The only sounds to be heard was an occasional bird chirp and perhaps a soft shuffle as someone changed position. Those ten minutes were incredibly peaceful and calm for us city-dwellers used to perpetual background noise.

Then the spell broke and we headed back to the Sound.

Seal colonies

On our way to the sea we saw dolphins frolicking in the water and apparently smiling as they raced alongside the boat. Is this a dolphin or a whale tail? 

Eventually we reached the broad expanse of the Tasman sea stretching all the way to Australia in the west. We also saw seal colonies on some of the islands.

Dolphin tail or Whale tail?

After lunch we headed back to the harbour.  The ride back had a different feel as the sun began to droop over the cliffs. The boat ride across the lake was very different too as dusk was beginning to set in and all the colours were markedly different from what we had seen in the morning.

Amazing reflections in Manapouri Lake
Waterfalls streaming down from the hills
Mountains and islands

Tired but satisfied we stepped off the boat and trudged to “the” restaurant for dinner, happy to have seen what we had never seen before in one place – the rugged mountains, cascading waterfalls, glacier carved valleys, pristine waters and….. the sound of silence!

Yes, no doubt, Doubtful Sound is very much worth visiting!

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Doubtful sounds fiordland, New Zealand
Map of New Zealand showing Doubtful Sound position
Route map Queenstown to Doubtful Sound, New Zealand
Mountain view from Manapouri Lake, New Zealand
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Snow capped mountains and shadows at Manapouri, New Zealand
En route to Manapouri Power station, NZ
Machine Hall, Manapouri Power plant, NZ - credit Wikipedia
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Waterfalls down the cliffs, NZ
Pretty little streams
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View of Mountains, Doubtful Sound, NZ
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Doubtful Sound cruise, NZ
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