Getting to the Doubtful Sound

No, the Doubtful Sound is not a new rock band, though it would be a good name for a music group.  The Doubtful Sound is part of the Fiordland in southern New Zealand.  We booked a one day boat tour of the sound back in October.  It was going to be one of the highlights of the trip.  Part of traveling to another part of the world is to see things that are unique to an area, and we can't see fiords in the U.S.

The tricky part of this adventure would be getting to the Doubtful Sound in time to catch the boat.  For the whole trip, this set of logistics scared me the most.  We had to leave Queenstown and drive 165 km down to Manapouri.  The tricky part of traveling in New Zealand is figuring out how long it will take to get places.  "Leave plenty of time to get places," Carla's husband, a native New Zealander, told us.  "You don't want to get stuck behind a caravan."

The time to get some place on Googles maps could be off by a lot.  On the way to Pohara, we had to drive through the mountains.  The posted speed limit was 100 km/h, but the road was so twisty we were lucky to go faster than 50 km/h.  Traveling during the holidays could add time to a trip, as everyone else is leaving town at the same time.  The roads from town to town are often two lanes, and it is hard to pass because they are hilly and curvy.  On the way from Hanmer Springs to Christchurch, we saw miles of back out town.  We were glad to be traveling in the opposite direction.

The boat was supposed to leave Manapouri at 10:30 a.m., and we had to be there twenty minutes early.  According to google maps, it was supposed to take two hours and fifteen minutes to get there from Queenstown.  According to the books, it was apposed to take two hours and forty-five minutes.  We were traveling on New Year's Eve day.  We later found out that Queenstown got an extra 100,000 visitors on the night of New Year's Eve.  It was the Times Square of New Zealand.  We were lucky to be leaving, not driving in.

Also, this little cruise on the water was fairly expensive, even though it seemed like a good value.  We each could have ridden on a Hydroshark for 20 minutes in Queenstown for the same price.  This was going to be an eight hour trip with a boat ride across a lake, a drive through a rain forest, and then another boat ride through the fjords.

Jack wanted wheels on the road by 7:00 a.m.  I figured we should be out of the door by 6:45.  We would wake up and 6:00, eat and then leave.  Jack wasn't worried -- he said he wakes up at 6:00 a.m. anyway.  We left the curtains open, as the sun rises early in the summer here.  At 5:40 a.m., I heard the birds singing and I could see the sun.  Jack was snoring.  I drifted back asleep.  He was still snoring when the alarms on our phones went off at 6:00.

The kids were slow to move.  We had packed 90% of our stuff the night before, but we still had to eat, get dressed and brush teeth.  They were dragging.  At 6:55, we were ready to leave, but the Boy did not have his shoes on.  Jack's cell phone rings.  It was the hospital, and we all paused, worried why they were calling him.  It was a robocall about the hospital that is sent to all physicians.  Jack didn't answer the phone the second time they called.  He moved forward.

We got to the car in the garage.  When I got there, I thought I had forgotten our phone chargers, so I ran back to the room while Jack packed.  When I got back, Jack went to check out.  The reception area was full with a tour group checking out at the same time.  He made it back to the car, and we left.  As soon as we pulled out of the garage at 7:04, it started to pour.  There was a steep hill to get out of the garage.  (This hill is steeper than many hills in Seattle, which is saying a lot.)  Cars were parked along the edges, making it a one lane road.  Another car was coming down the hill, and we had to pull over.  When we got past that car, we had to wait for an elderly woman to climb the hill.  We pulled out of the hotel at 7:08.

When we were on the main road, I turned on the GPS.  In NZ, there are lots of roundabouts.  At the first roundabout, Jack made a wrong turn and we had to double back.  Once we were on the main road, we were following a tractor with a large lawn mower on the back.  I looked at the GPS: 165 km to go, and it was 7:12. After a few minutes, the tractor pulled off.  I figured it wouldn't be heading to Manapouri.

All through the trip, I was doing the math:  how fast did we need to go to make it in time?  I looked at the speedometer.  Jack was going about 85 km/h.  The maximum speed limit in NZ is 100 km/h.  I looked at him.  "The road is straight and flat here.  I would recommend going the sped limit."

"I thought you'd be worried I was going too fast," Jack said as he sped up.

The rain continued, and the road got curvier.  Once we passed the tractor, we didn't have a car in front of or behind us for miles.  Jack decided to take a bathroom break after an hour.  Before we left, he has been debating between drinking coffee and not, but decided he'd rather be awake for the drive.  I agreed with his decision and we pulled over.  (Small towns in NZ have public restrooms, which are very convenient for travelers.)

We got back on the main road, only to follow a tour bus and a gasoline tanker.  Argh!!!! We had been on the road for an hour, and still had 100 km left to go!  We had gone about 65 km in the past hour, and who knew what the road and traffic ahead would look like in the rain behind a tanker.  Would we make it in time?

The tanker kept up with the speed limit, thankfully.  It stayed on the main road, while we took another route.  We made it to Manapouri by 9:20, plenty of time.

The boat ride was stunning, the highlight of the trip so far.  I'll post pictures of the fiords and waterfalls when I get home.