Doubtful Sound

Three days ago we arrived in Thompson Sound, caught some fish, spent the night at an anchorage near the entrance. Next morning we headed towards Doubtful Sound, supposedly very beautiful. Well, it is. What a surprose that all of a sudden we saw other boats, fisherboats and tourist boats. Should there be life? Well, yes. Here at the very end, in Deep Cove, there is a hostel, a youth education center and a power plant. It is run by the lovely manager Billy and his wife Wilma. We met them after another exhausting hike steep up to the top basin of the Huntely waterfalls. Another 4-5hrs hike, but just gorgeous. If you had to imagine and paint a fairytail forest, that's what it would look like. This time until about 2/3rds of the way up it was not the stones and waterfalls that made the track difficult but the track this time goes up roots. Yes, roots of the trees. I would not believe it if I hadn't seen it. On every steep mountain, even if it descends straight down, trees are growing. Their roots become part of the mountain itself! Just amazing. So when you hike up you hike over lots of roots. They are your stepts, but many real high up - and very many have little pools in them. So you balance on the slippery roots. This path seemed to never end. After you managed the roots, the slippery stone balancing and creek / waterfall crossing / mud avoiding path starts again. After such a hike you're not only exhausted physically, but also mentally due to all the concentration and challenges you need. 

So after the hike yesterday we went to see Billy to pay for a shower that we wanted to take. We ended having a cup of tea / coffee with him and his wife and came home with a ready cooked crayfish, a huge one! It ended up in olive oil and garlic pasta and finally in our stomaches. Sooooo good. Braught them fresh baked bread this morning for a thank you, now we're invited to pork roast dinner tonight. Ahh, these Kiwis are just the nicest people. Billy even drove us to the Helena falls today and walked the path with us before we went on to do the Old Doubtful Sound track. Another lovely walk in fantasy world. And we had another looooooong shower, great. If I am lucky, I canupload some pictures with this post. 

Tomorrow we continue to Dusky Sound, no tourism there. But they say lots of fishermen so chances of getting some more crayfish are good!