Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is just a few k’s down the road from Milford, it doesn’t get as many visitors but it’s supposed to be the more scenic of the two. Again it was created by glacier ice calving through the rock and it also has 4 to 6 meters of fresh water sitting on top of the sea water. This time I cruised with Real Journey’s who I must say have been the best company that I’ve travelled with in NZ.

The trip starts with a cruise over Lake Manapouri. The views are beautiful and to be fair I would just be happy with a cruise around the lake. As with Milford all the mountain are filled with trees and everything is very green and fresh. The next stage is a bus trip over the Wilmot Pass and to the start of Doubtful Sound. Doubtful is very similar to Milford apart from the mountains are made of many Islands compared Milford’s valleys. I was pretty lucky with the weather, we had patches of sun and rain so I got to experience the Sound in different climates but more importantly the visibility was always good.

Scar caused by tree avalanche

It’s hard to write too much about Doubtful Sound, I guess you just need to experience it for yourself. I think I preferred the trip to Doubtful as it was longer and had more stages with different scenery but I couldn’t pick a favourite between Milford and Doubtful.

Click here for more photos of Doubtful Sound