16 October 2014 Thursday
The ship has dropped anchor at a quiet Cove in doubtful sound. At night, it was total darkness beyond the ship. At last lovely sunlight swept away darkness….
After breakfast…. we moved on to the deck.
The cruise started to move out of the quiet cove.
A little stopover…. the captain off the engine and wanted us to maintain silent. Listened to the Sound of the Doubtful Sound or the Sound of Silent. Many passengers looked out into wilderness and remained motionless… I tried to capture the expression of silent. I would have called it silent of wilderness.
The ship moved on to a coastal cave. Water dripped down from one edge of the cave. The crew collected the water and distributed to all… we were invited to taste the freshness of natural water.
I made my own collection and indeed… fresh chilling water.
On our way back….a stop over at this waterfall….this was close…
Approaching the jetty…. we saw the Real Journey Buses were waiting for us.
Say good bye to the very friendly crew.
The bus drove us through Wilmot Pass. No rain and we had some good pictures taken.
At Lake Manapouri Jetty…. we had good view of the dam and power station.
Boarding the Real Journey Lake Manapouri Cruise.
Looking ahead…. our destination was the other end of Lake Manapouri
Looking back at Wilmot Pass …. rugged peak capped by snow
The scents of civilizations…
Approaching the jetty, we considered ourselves very lucky to see the perfect reflection the day before.
Another group of passengers waiting…
The beginning of another journey into remotely wilderness of Doubtful Sound.
A short drive from Lake Manapouri Visitor Center, we made a stop at Rainbow Reach. This was a film site for Lord of the Ring. Again I had no idea on which scene. At the starting point of Kepler Track.
A quiet river flowing in front of us.
The colors of the river bank…
Looking into the river…. the clarity was exceptional…
A swing bridge hanging over the river…our pictures on the bridge.
We could see the sand bank….
Zoom in on the sand bank…
We did not go any further down the Kepler Track…. this is a place with exceptional beauty. I especially like the quiet river with crystal clear water running through the colored vegetation on its bank. Peaceful, relax, enjoyable and wonderful.
Our long drive to Catlins area…objective McLean Falls and Cathedral Cave. (accessible at low tide 1500 hrs)
Leaving Te Anau area… leaving scenic view of layers of snow capped mountain
The Southland consists of vast rolling plains… not at all flat but for people who live in City, we considered it as breathtaking.
The drive was easy with occasional bend. The colored vegetation along the road spiced up our drive. Scenic and felt like driving in postcard scenery.
We called this colors of green.
Well… included here a picture that look common but scary if one put a little wild imagination to it……. there are several human faces hidden on the light colored tree and one large face on the tree to the right … the most prominent one is around the second wires…. spot them if you can !
Rugged peaks are less common in Southland. The slope were gentle and it always lowered into beautiful green pastures.
Varieties of vegetation over different facets and terrains.
There are vast areas of sheep and cattle farm on the rolling gentle hills…thousands of animals dotting the green pastures.
Sheep Close up…. innocent looking creatues.
Close up on Cattle…
This is a picture of Cathedral Cave…. Unfortunately we do not have access. The implication – we had to come again.
Short distance away is Mclean Falls. Approaching through thick forested area
At Mclean Falls
our Pictures…
Leisurely we make our way to Invercargill.
Stopover at a sheep farm. Flock of birds flying over farmland.
Cool afternoon when we drove pass Fortrose while on way to Mclean Falls.
We took a longer break at Fortrose while on our way to Invercargill. Sunset over Toetoes Bay.
Silhouette of windbreak trees…
Lonely Road to Invercargill… lined with power grid that goes to land far far away.
We had very good dinner at Lone Star Cafe and Bar. Mussels again…my wife said
… and little spicy and very juicy feast.
After dinner….colors of nightfall over Invercargill.
End of Day 13 : We started the day with Sound of Silent over Doubtful Sound. Rainbow Reach is a very relax, enjoyable and wonderful site. Driving over rolling hills and plains is like traveling in postcard scenery. We may have miss Cathedral Cave … but I thought that is OK… it simply means one additional items to the list of reason to come back again.
I love vastness and space and South Island offers vast scenic plains, hills, colored terrains that was so appealing and Lovvvvvvely.
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