Thursday 9th April 2026
We had booked a couple of nights stay at Possum Lodge, Manapouri, to allow us to take a full day to explore Doubtful Sound. This was booked through RealNZ, who we found to be very efficient.
Doubtful Sound is a fjord on the south west coast of South Island, New Zealand and is not normally accessible by road.
Setting off at 10:30, the journey entailed an hour’s travel across Lake Manapouri by passenger boat…
It was then around another hour by bus, through a pass at around 630metres, along a steep, gravel road, to the landing stage at Doubtful Sound. The bus driver stopped to allow some photos along the way:
The larger passenger boat on Doubtful Sound then took us the length of the fjord. It was raining when we set off on the Sound, adding to the moody atmosphere:
As the day had given us torrential rain during the journey, the waterfalls were all in fine fettle:
When we reached the sea, the boat was thrown about a fair bit, until we reached the shelter of some rocks on which there were a good number of fur seals basking:
Our return journey was very similar, with heavy rain showers and rainbows. The weather seemed to chase us in:
By the time we reached Lake Manapouri again, the sun was casting some interesting patterns on the nearby mountains.
That is all for today. TTFN and see-u-later.
"See-u-Later" 