Cruising in Fiordland

We have just returned from a Real Journeys cruise in Fiordland on the Milford Wanderer. We booked to go on this cruise with a group of 10 relations and friends so we knew we'd be in good company.

To reach our ship we had a bouncy ride in a small helicopter. Once on board our cabins were snug and warm, the dining cum lounge area roomy and there was plenty of deck space to view the Fiords.

On our first day we cruised only a short distance in rather wet and wild weather before dropping anchor in Revolver Bay (deep in Preservation Inlet)

The next day there were winds gusting at 40-50 knots, thunder and lightning and horizontal sheets of rain. Later on the weather improved so we were able to go ashore at Isthmus Sound to see an old smelter, designed to extract gold from molten rock. It turned out to be an abject failure and had to be abandoned.

As we passed Cuttle Cove we spied New Zealand’s oldest shore based whaling station. Sadly the whales were hunted to extinction.

The following day we carried on to Oneroa which was once a gold mining town. In its heyday it had 1000 people but is now deserted. Then we stopped at Kisbee Bay where the caretaker let us have a wander through the living quarters of a private lodge owned by an Auckland syndicate full of memorabilia, comfortable old chairs and deer hunting trophies.

 After lunch it was an hour’s open sea passage around Gulche’s Head to Chalkey Inlet in 5 metre swells Most of us sat out on the deck and enjoyed the rather rocky ride with Mollymawks (a kind of albatross) circling the ship. But a few passengers were seasick. Once the anchor was down at North Post it was calm once more and we went on the smaller tender boat to see an old shipwreck called the Stella.

The next day we were off to Dusky sound, a 3 hour voyage in the open seas with swells up to 6 metres high but we felt perfectly safe and in good hands  with skipper Glen. We caught sight of a pod of about 100 dusky dolphins, 2 wandering albatrosses, more Mollyhawks and little blue penguins.

Once in Dusky sounds it was calm and sheltered and we went on shore at Pigeon Island where Richard Henry, New Zealand’s first Conservationist had lived for 15 years. Towards the end he realized his life’s work to save flightless birds like kiwis and kakapo from extinction had sadly been in vain . He found evidence of stoats on what he had believed to be was a predator free island.

Back on board the Wanderer Captain Glen navigated his way through a narrow passage into Pickersgill harbour where Captain Cook had preceded us in 1773. Cook stayed for 5 weeks working on his navigational charts. We went for a bushwalk enjoying the birdsong and listened to our nature guide Jason’s enthusiastic explanations of native plants. Each evening he gave us a further talk or showed a movie before we settled down to a game of Scrabble / cards or read.

On the way back to the Wanderer we had a close encounter with 15-20 frolicking bottle-noised dolphins.

The weather continued to improve so that by the following day, after an hour’s cruising around the Dusky Sounds we were able to drop anchor and those who felt adventurous went kayaking. The more slothful including me took a ride in the tender boat to spot baby seals and shags. But our journey had to be cut short when my partner John fell out of his kayak and had to be rescued. He earnt himself the dubious honour of becoming the only member of our group to become a member of the Dusky Swimming Club,

We returned for a crayfish lunch and then took the tender boat to Anchor Island where we were grateful for our gumboots as it was a challenging hike, on a very muddy track with lots of gnarly tree roots.

On our last full day the weather was fine again and was spent cruising by Shag Island, through the Acheron passage and past Wet Jacket Arm. This is rumoured to be moose country but we failed to spot any.

The following morning we were allowed to sleep in (till 7 am!) But it would have been a shame to linger in bed , miss breakfast and a crisp, cloudless and sunny day.In a peaceful spot the engine was turned off. We all stood silently for a few minutes surrounded by tree clad mountains and birdsong and reflected on how incredibly important it is to treasure and conserve this beautiful environment for generations to come.

It was time to wend our way home. Fortunately we were well prepared for the cold and the rain with woollies, rainproof jackets and gumboots. And we didn’t mind being flexible as the changeable weather meant that Captain Glen not infrequently had to change the day’s programme from Plan A, to Plan B but sometimes even Plan C or D.Thankfully the sandflies were few and far between which was probably due to the colder weather. All in all a great journey.