After the night’s stormy weather, the morning brought an improvement, thank goodness. The big swell had eased and the wind had reduced.
8 a.m found us near the entrance of ‘Dusky’ Sound, the southernmost fjord of 3 that we were to cruise. As the name suggests, these navigable Sounds weave their way through towering, tree-clad mountains. Of the 3, 2 of them, ‘Dusky’ and ‘Doubtful’ do not see many visitors, they are rather isolated. On the other hand, the last Sound, ‘Milford’ has communication to it, roads and an airport, so this is by far the most popular. It is also the most scenic.
We had embarked a pilot in Port Chalmers, it is mandatory to have one on board when cruising the fjords. Lawrence was very personable and ‘advised’ as our Navigation team conned the ‘Amsterdam’ through the fjords, varying speeds on the tighter turns. The clouds were still with us as we entered ‘Dusky’, however over the course of the next few hours, the sun came out and blue sky greeted us.
Alaska came to mind, we so often scenic cruise there too, although the are no bear to look for, there was some wildlife; seal and dolphin mainly. During the summer, humpback whales arrive to feed, however none today.
Entering Dusky Sound
Our decks were packed
Approaching ‘Milford’, the dolphins came to play
Entering ‘Milford’
Ahead of us, in the distance, the “Jewel” (again). We were following her all day. This is the southern end of the Sound and it is here we turn to go out again.
Entering ‘Doubtful”
Doubtful
Milford
Seals basking on the rocks
Entering Milford, the “Jewel” ahead.
‘Milford’. There are many tour boats, one of the attractions being to put the bow under the waterfall
A tour boat, with ‘volunteers’ on the bow, about to get very wet.
Having started our day at 8 a.m. we finally disembarked our pilot and left Milford at 4:30 p.m. Now bound for Sydney, Australia, arriving there on the morning of (our) 10th February, that’s in 3 days time. We are following the “Jewel” still, according to her AIS, she’s arriving 2 hours before us.
