Most folk visiting this way seem to either visit Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound but not both. We were lucky enough to have the time to see both, one day after the other. While we think Milford is more visually stunning, Doubtful is enormous, more difficult to get to so less touristy but has a bit more of interest.
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We started off with a boat ride across Lake Manapouri on a chilly but (another) crystal clear day – we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
The Manapouri power station is the largest hydro power station in NZ and is located underground, 200m into a mountain on the edge of Lake Manapouri and access station is via a 2km tunnel that spirals its way down into the mountain. The power station took 8 years to complete in incredibly harsh conditions in the early 1960’s and water poured into the work area incessantly meaning that the workmen had to place and detonate the explosives in darkness. The rock here is a mix of quartz and gneiss and doesn’t split easily so had to be fractured. Instead of using a dam to provide water, it takes advantage of the natural 178m height between Lake Manapouri and the sea at Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound. This is the inlet for the power station on Lake Manapouri.
A 22km road had to be built over a mountain pass between Lake Manapouri and Deep Cove, in Doubtful Sound. This is the most expensive road ever built in NZ, took two years to build and we saw these incredibly photos of bulldozers struggling not to be swept away in the torrential water. Needless to say lives were lost in its creation and a total of 16 men died building both the road and the power station. Wilmot Pass, as it is known, gave us our first glimpse of Doubtful Sound
Out on the water it was pretty rough and windy but the seals were enjoying themselves. I am always amazed at the massive size difference between male (~160kg) and female (~50kg) seals.
This is a hanging valley, one of a few in the Sound. Doubtful Sound is a pretty cool place and one of extremes. There can be continuous rain for weeks, temperatures can go from 0 to 30 degrees Celsius in less than an hour, winds get up to 100mph and a huge island (Secretary Island) rose 30cm in an earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale in 2003.
We only saw a small part of Doubtful Sound and this was another inlet that we ventured so far down then turned around.
The native forest is untouched in this area and when the engines in the boat were turned off the silence was amazing and only broken by bird song
On the way out we got to take a look at the power station, the tailrace of which enters Deep Cove at the Wilmot Pass end of Doubtful Sound, some 10km through the mountain. A second tailrace was built in the late 1990’s using the largest tunnel drill in the world (same as that used to dig the Channel Tunnel), shipped here from Sweden. An operation that would be huge on any terms in any country but the remoteness of this area made it even more challenging. Not everyone will find this interesting (but I did) and was fascinated by the turbine room that still had original rock walls!
The power station provides power (85% of its output) to the aluminium smelter at Bluff that apparently produces some of the highest quality aluminium in the world, used to make digital camera cases and the wings of the new Airbus 380s.
We were a bit windswept by the end of the day but it’s a great day out and I’d happily go again as you’d get a very different experience should it be raining, as waterfalls are instantaneous. I was experimenting (again) with the self-timer settings on my camera and Paul must have been getting fed up, adopting poses that clearly show the rest of us up!
View Larger Map
We started off with a boat ride across Lake Manapouri on a chilly but (another) crystal clear day – we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
The Manapouri power station is the largest hydro power station in NZ and is located underground, 200m into a mountain on the edge of Lake Manapouri and access station is via a 2km tunnel that spirals its way down into the mountain. The power station took 8 years to complete in incredibly harsh conditions in the early 1960’s and water poured into the work area incessantly meaning that the workmen had to place and detonate the explosives in darkness. The rock here is a mix of quartz and gneiss and doesn’t split easily so had to be fractured. Instead of using a dam to provide water, it takes advantage of the natural 178m height between Lake Manapouri and the sea at Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound. This is the inlet for the power station on Lake Manapouri.
A 22km road had to be built over a mountain pass between Lake Manapouri and Deep Cove, in Doubtful Sound. This is the most expensive road ever built in NZ, took two years to build and we saw these incredibly photos of bulldozers struggling not to be swept away in the torrential water. Needless to say lives were lost in its creation and a total of 16 men died building both the road and the power station. Wilmot Pass, as it is known, gave us our first glimpse of Doubtful Sound
Out on the water it was pretty rough and windy but the seals were enjoying themselves. I am always amazed at the massive size difference between male (~160kg) and female (~50kg) seals.
This is a hanging valley, one of a few in the Sound. Doubtful Sound is a pretty cool place and one of extremes. There can be continuous rain for weeks, temperatures can go from 0 to 30 degrees Celsius in less than an hour, winds get up to 100mph and a huge island (Secretary Island) rose 30cm in an earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale in 2003.
We only saw a small part of Doubtful Sound and this was another inlet that we ventured so far down then turned around.
The native forest is untouched in this area and when the engines in the boat were turned off the silence was amazing and only broken by bird song
On the way out we got to take a look at the power station, the tailrace of which enters Deep Cove at the Wilmot Pass end of Doubtful Sound, some 10km through the mountain. A second tailrace was built in the late 1990’s using the largest tunnel drill in the world (same as that used to dig the Channel Tunnel), shipped here from Sweden. An operation that would be huge on any terms in any country but the remoteness of this area made it even more challenging. Not everyone will find this interesting (but I did) and was fascinated by the turbine room that still had original rock walls!
The power station provides power (85% of its output) to the aluminium smelter at Bluff that apparently produces some of the highest quality aluminium in the world, used to make digital camera cases and the wings of the new Airbus 380s.
We were a bit windswept by the end of the day but it’s a great day out and I’d happily go again as you’d get a very different experience should it be raining, as waterfalls are instantaneous. I was experimenting (again) with the self-timer settings on my camera and Paul must have been getting fed up, adopting poses that clearly show the rest of us up!
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