Leaving Doubtful Sound

As today’s a sea day, I’m going to return to yesterday’s  ‘scenic cruising’ for this entry. After all, it was always going to be tough to include two icons of Fjordland in one day! 

Leaving behind the glorious Milford Sound, we continue south, hugging this coast of mountain and inlet, until mid-afternoon we reach the ominously named Doubtful Sound. Apparently named by Captain Cook as he was doubtful of its use as a harbour, the name somehow conjures up a dark forbidding landscape. Nothing, however, could be further than the truth, and the ‘bigger, wider, greener’ description that compares this with Milford that certainly rings true. 

Not only that, but by now the sky is blue and cloudless overhead, white cumulous hovering over the high mountains, so entering Thompson Sound is an altogether different experience from the mystery of our misty Milford morning.

We sail past Secretary Island, until we come to Doubtful Sound itself, turning back towards the sea. Had we seen this first, I would probably unhesitatingly loved its beauty. But I miss the darkness and mystery of Milford’s vertiginous sides, its narrow secrets missing in Doubtful’s wide openness. Still, we enjoy this gentle sailing in superb weather.