Day Seven – Fiordland Eye Candy

I think I now understand the true meaning of majestic.  Today I saw the most beautiful natural landscape that my own two eyes have ever witnessed in person.

I took a day trip to the Doubtful Sound, a vast and untouched wilderness in the Fiordland National Park.  It was quite a trek to get there… a two hour and fifteen minute bus ride from Queenstown to Manapouri, an hour boat ride across the lake (there is no direct road access) and then another hour bus ride over the alpine pass.  And then we had to retrace those steps to get back.  But damn, it was worth the trip for a three hour cruise that I’ll never forget.

As we made our way through the Doubtful Sound, I felt humbled by the physical grandeur of this place.  It has a way of making you forget everything that is weighing on you because everything seems insignificant in it’s presence.  I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many pictures.  I just couldn’t get over what I was seeing.  I’m sharing a few of my favorites, but I must warn you… pictures don’t even come close to capturing the true essence of this pristine landscape.  It’s something you just have to experience for yourself.

We were already without cell service and a wifi connection, but my favorite part of the cruise was when the captain asked everyone to put their cameras away and stand still while he turned the engines off and we took a few minutes to enjoy the absolute silence and serenity.

I was so exhausted by the time I got back to my room that all I wanted to do was put my head on the pillow… but I haven’t experienced Queenstown nightlife yet, so I told myself I’ll sleep when I’m dead and I headed out for a bit.  I hit two of the top rated bars and felt like I was back in college.  Well it’s more that I felt like grandma crashing a college party, lol.  I thought to myself, “there’s no way these ‘kids’ are over twenty one”… and then I remembered, you can drink at eighteen here in New Zealand.  At that point, I decided sleep was more important so I headed home to bed.  The guy manning the desk back in the lobby and I had a good laugh about my experience and he gave me a list of places to try tomorrow night that won’t be a drunk, college frat party.  Guess we all grow up at some point even though we don’t like to admit it 🙂

This blog entry was originally posted on www.KmayerAdventures.blogspot.com