Fiordland / Te Wahipounamu
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FIORDLAND DISCOVERY EXCLUSIVE CRUISES fiordland / te wahipounamu DOUBTFUL, BREAKSEA AND DUSKY SOUNDS, AND PRESERVATION AND CHALKY INLETS The beauty of a Fiordland cruise on the If you are boarding the Fiordland Jewel in Fiordland Jewel is that you can take it at your Dusky Sound you will depart by helicopter from: own pace, either enjoy the scenery around Southern Lakes Helicopter Hangar on Sandy you onboard our luxury nine-cabin boat, or get Brown Road, Te Anau. Please check in between out and about and explore the area. On most 10.30-11am for 11.30am lift off. Arrive onboard days there will be the opportunity to head to early afternoon. shore, with the chance to stretch your legs Departure: If you are departing the Fiordland and experience the Fiordland wilderness for Jewel in Doubtful Sound you will return from yourself. Deep Cove at 3pm and arrive in Manapouri (Real Of course, the weather is central to any Journeys Visitor Centre) mid to late afternoon, Fiordland experience, so the itinerary of your 5.15pm at the latest. Times may vary depending cruise may differ depending on the conditions on timetables. of the day. if you are departing the Fiordland Jewel in ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE Dusky Sound you will depart by helicopter early afternoon and return to Te Anau. Arrival: We recommend you arrive at Queenstown Airport the day before your boat After you have finished your cruise we cruise. Then drive (or bus) to Te Anau/Manapouri recommend you stay in Te Anau, Manapouri and stay the night at Te Anau/Manapouri before or Queenstown and depart the next day from you board the boat to start your cruise. Queenstown Airport. If you are boarding the Fiordland Jewel in Transfer to Manapouri /Te Anau from Doubtful Sound you will depart from: Real Queenstown can be arranged by Fiordland Journeys Visitor Centre, Pearl Harbour, 64 Discovery at an additional cost, please contact us Walau Street, Manapouri @ 9.45am-10.00am for more information and pricing. Please check in 20 minutes prior to your Fiordland Discovery recommends guests should departure. always have private travel insurance. [email protected] | 0800 100 105 | fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz FIORDLAND DISCOVERY EXCLUSIVE CRUISES sample itinerary Please note there are variations are subject to the We cruise around the inlets, and may do activities weather. This sample itinerary is from Dusky Sound such as: ending in Doubtful Sound, Doubtful Sound to Dusky Sound is in reverse. • View the rusting hulk of the wreck “Stella”, a steamship that purposely ran aground in the 1800s Day 1 - after damaging itself on a reef. Fly via helicopter from Te Anau and land directly onboard the Fiordland Jewel, which will be waiting in • Walk on the beach at South Port Cove and Dusky Sound. visit McCallum’s sawmill boiler. Days 2-5 • Walk up to Lake Cadman, via the falls in Lake In Dusky Sound we’ll cruise amongst various islands, Cove at the head of Edwardson Sound (20 minutes). coves and passages, visiting many historically Right beside Chalky Inlet is Preservation Inlet, significant sites such as: separated by Broke-adrift Passage and Treble Mountain. In the 1890s, a gold rush occurred and • Luncheon Cove, where we walk around mining towns sprang up at Cromarty and Te Oneroa, predator-free Anchor Island (2.5 kilometres), a bird where tracks and old mining machinery can still be sanctuary near the mouth of the fiord. You may see found. Possible activities include: the South Island saddleback and, occasionally, one of the 40 rare kakapo on the island. This track travels up • Land at Krisbee Bay to view an old sawmill to a small lake in the centre of the island. boiler at Cromarty. The gold mine itself is many kilometres into the hills. • Anchor Point, where Captain Cook anchored HMS Resolution in 1773. Also Pickersgill Harbour where • Land at Te Oneroa Beach and walk 10 Cook moored off Astronomer Point for five weeks. minutes inland to the old Morning Star battery boiler, where you may be able to see the mine drives and • Pigeon Island, where we walk up the even the remains of an aerial cableway. On the other DOC pathway to visit the site of the home of New side of the inlet is the site of the first whaling station Zealand’s first conservationist, Richard Henry, who in the South Island. tried to save the kakapo from extinction in the late Preservation Inlet also has some spectacular land 1800s. Here there is also an incredible viewpoint features and viewpoints, including: towards the entrance of Dusky Sound. • Puysegur Point, where we land at the old oil • We then cruise through the narrow channels store (now a DOC hut) and walk to the most isolated of the Little Harbour to The Basin where you can go lighthouse in New Zealand. kayaking or explore Resolution Island on foot. • Spit Island, an island connected to the • There is also the possibility to launch the mainland by a beautiful sandspit at low tide. It was ROV to view black coral and marine life, giving you the the site of two tragic Maori battles in the 1780s. unique opportunity to experience this remarkable • Cascade basin, a magnificent waterfall that place in a way that, until now, has been impossible. plunges into Long Sound. At some stage, depending on the weather, we leave Day 6-7 Dusky Sound and cruise down to Chalky Inlet. We’ll start to head back north through Breaksea and Doubtful Sounds. At Doubtful Sound on Day 7, you’ll disembark and take a bus over Wilmot Pass, a boat over Lake Manapouri and return to Manapouri.. [email protected] | 0800 100 105 | fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz FIORDLAND DISCOVERY EXCLUSIVE CRUISES SCENIC & NATURE The massive glaciers that tore the landscape Seals apart 15,000 years ago left 14 fascinating fiords, Fiordland is home to the New Zealand fur seal the northernmost being the famous Milford Sound, (kekeno). Although almost hunted to extinction in with its narrow valley and steep cliffs, and the the 1800s, New Zealand now boasts approximately southernmost being Dusky Sound, and Chalky and 80,000 fur seals, with a large population found in Preservation Inlets. Dusky Sound. Strictly speaking, a “sound” is formed by a river, Dolphins are frequently seen in the sounds and, on rare occasions, pilot, humpback and Southern Right while a “fiord” is a glacier-formed valley. Fiordland’s whales. Orca have been spotted along the coast and southern fiords are much larger than its northern it is always a special privilege to see these incredible fiords, with mountains and hills complementing their animals. islands and coves. The remote islands in particular have been a real opportunity to establish bird Underwater sanctuaries, such as Anchor Island, which is now Fiordland is home to ten marine reserves. Depending home to the likes of the kakapo and saddleback. on the weather, we may use the ROV to view the Five Fingers Peninsula and Wet Jacket Arm reserves Fiordland receives about 6500mm of rainfall each in Dusky Sound and the Long Sound Reserve at the year, the perfect catalyst for beautiful waterfalls head of the Preservation Inlet. and lush podocarp forest, both abundant in Dusky Sound. This rainfall also creates a freshwater layer The extreme amount of rainfall in the fiords results in a freshwater surface layer that can be as deep on top of the fiords, resulting in a unique marine as seven metres. The run-off from the surrounding environment. mountains collects vegetable particles, which are Wildlife responsible for the tannin-like colour of the water. Dusky Sound and its surrounding fiords are havens This creates a light barrier and encourages deep- for marine and bird life. From the comfort of our water plants and animals to thrive at shallower vessel you can enjoy seals and a variety of birds in depths. their natural habitat. The marine reserves have an impressive variety of habitats and species from sponges, lampshells Birds (brachipods), starfish lobsters, rock crabs and fish, to Fiordland has many pest-free islands, the best some of the world’s biggest populations of black coral known being Anchor Island, where you may see the trees. This black coral - said to be more expensive endangered kakapo, South Island saddleback, South than diamonds - can be more than 300 years old. Island robin and yellowhead. The most intriguing of birds is the rare Fiordland crested penguin. It is the only penguin to breed exclusively in New Zealand, mainly in Fiordland and Stewart Island. We may also see falcons, white- faced herons, white herons, cattle egrets, petrels, a variety of shags and the common black-backed gull. Out in the Tasman Sea we frequently see Albatross including the Royal Albatross which has the longest wing span in the world. [email protected] | 0800 100 105 | fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz FIORDLAND DISCOVERY EXCLUSIVE CRUISES history Maori Dusky Sound and its surrounding fiords are steeped Fiordland/Te Wahipounamu was well known to the in rich New Zealand history and stories of the early Maori, and many legends recount its formation and beginnings of this remarkable region are fascinating. naming. Demigod Tuterakiwhanoa is said to have carved the rugged landscap from formless rock. In 1770, Captain Cook, sailing the Endeavour, saw Takiwai, a translucent greenstone, was sought from Five Fingers Point “standing up like four fingers and Anita Bay and elsewhere near the mouth of Milford thumb of a man’s hand”. It was nearing dusk so Sound/Piopiotahi. Cook, arguably the greatest mariner the world has ever seen, decided it would be unwise to sail into Early Maoris began to explore Fiordland from about the fiord.