Next, this adventure actually headed towards Doubtful Sound. We rode our bus to a boat on lake Manapouri that took us across to another bus that took us to the sound and to the Navigator. The Navigator is a cruise/sail/awesome boat that we stayed the night in the fiord on!
On the bus from Manapouri to Doubtful Sound I was sitting in the very front of the bus. The views were fantastic and so were the waterfalls. The driver was talkative and was asking our group and the other people on that bus questions about random stuff....like what would be the main pollinator in this area if the flowers were mostly white and large and the were pollinated at night....Moths of course. Well I answered a few of the questions and then he fed me the rest of the answers...it was funny. Then all my friends said it must be because I was homeschooled....probably right. We stopped on a bridge to take pictures in front of a waterfall and there was a little bit of ballet going on. :) 
It was definitely weird to be on a “tour” like thing that was SO touristy and proud of it. It felt less than hard core, but very relaxing.The boat that was to be our home for these two days was awesome! It had 4 decks. Our group was in the bunk rooms in the very lowest deck of the boat. The rooms with four bunks were tiny!
but they had a little window and the beds were really comfortable. They fed us extravagantly on the boat and there was always coffee, milo and tea available. The first thing we did was motor out a more central part of the fiord. Doubtful Sound is a large fiord with islands within it and unique groups of animals that call it home. We stood out on the many observation decks and just tried to soak in all the steep mountains that plunged straight down into the depths of the fiord.
As we were driving we were joined by the pod of bottle nose dolphins that live in Doubtful Sound. They were awesome and a few came close to the boat and showed off their tricks.
Next we kayaked! In a very orderly and safe fashion (boo) we explored the circumference of a small island. We paddled around and a few people got wet. We saw heaps of birds and sandflies. It was great to actually be on the water exploring and observing the fiord on my own. Being close to the water in a kayak is a much more intimate way to see an area than up on a huge boat with a hot drink in hand. After Kayaking a bunch of crazy people jumped in the fiord...which was really cold! I just took pictures of them and stayed relatively dry.
The captain then headed out to the mouth of the fiord where it meets the Tasman Sea. Right at the mouth there are a few rocky islands where a colony of fur seals live. They were cute....and apparently they are soft and cuddly because they were almost hunted to extinction long ago. We floated past the seals and out into the sea to watch the sunset and feel the waves. The sunset was outstanding and it was a little bit of a rush to feel some waves. The fiord was a little too calm for my taste that day.
As I was watching the sun set over the Tasman Sea I couldn’t help but sing a song that my dad wrote a long time ago...
Hunger you feel when we're apart… You need a friend.
Loneliness buried inside your heart… I'll take your hand
Would you give me your love if I gave you the world,
And you always had your way?
If I painted the sky with a color you feel
To finish every day
If I heard every word you've
If I cried when your heart was broken
If I never failed If I bore the nails
Would you even remember my name?
I have been waiting for you to see… since time began
All the rejection, I will forgive My love won't end
Wine in the cup, My blood my life, poured out for you
Bread is my body, broken and torn, eat and be new
We had a fantastic dinner with all kinds of salads, pastas, meats and desserts....this is where I had my first pavlova! Delicious. We parked the Navigator and dropped the anchor in one of the arms of the fiord. After a shower I went up to the top deck to look at the stars. They were incredible! I could barely make out the dark mountains surrounding me, I had to look straight up to see the Milky Way and the Southern Cross.
I went to sleep in the little tiny bunk to the gentle movement of the boat on the water....so gentle in fact that I didn’t feel it at all. I could have been on solid ground. Haha. In the morning we had to be up early so the crew could re-make the bunks, the capitan could head back to the dock and we could see a sunrise of sorts....a morning in the fiords. The reflections on the water were spectacular. At one point we stopped and we were told that we were going to have 5 minutes of complete silence, no walking on deck or talking or taking pictures. The capitan stopped the Navigator’s motors and we just tried to soak it in.
It was so great to be able to see how still the water is, how gently the birds glide, and how it’s hard to decipher which is the reflection in the water and which is the real mountain. I was over come with beauty....I could have stood there in silence for a very long time. All I could think of was songs that gave the glory of all this majestic massive beauty to God.
On the way back to the dock the capitan unfurled the sails and we “sailed” against the wind for a while. It was quite windy and at one point I was goofying off and the wind blew me over (not overboard, just on the deck ;) ).
I was really sad to leave the Navigator, it had been a swell experience. We disembarked from the Navigator, loaded the bus, got on the other boat, then back on our bus. Somewhere in that crazy transportation situation a sandfly bit my lip. Actually I think I got bit twice. My lip started swelling. Then it kept swelling until it was very big and noticeable. I tried to use some ice to help the swelling, but I still had to endure the glances and comments of my fellow travelers. Haha it was funny. You can’t take yourself too serious when your lip is huge and it feels even huge-er. :D
We headed back to Te Anau for dinner and a movie. I went to a pie place and got my first meat pie. Steak and cheese. IT WAS SO GOOD. I have heard that this is the best pie place in NZ. With my one pie experience I would agree. Then all the Butler kids and our leader Guy went to watch a movie/documentary on Fiordland. It didn’t have words, just music and unbelievable footage of Fiordland. Waterfalls, helicopters, snow on the fiords, glaciers, birds and plants.....I fell asleep for some of it, it was just so relaxing. :)
During the bus ride back to Dunedin I slept and watched Sherlock Holms. It was good, but sad to be back in Dunedin and real life. I unloaded my stuff in my room and had a few minutes to get ready before going to Mass with Matt and Mike to listen to Desiree play the viola. This was the first Catholic Mass I had ever been to. It was interesting, but I didn’t understand all the reasons we were standing/sitting/saying things/repeating things. I knew one of the hymns we sung though!
It was interesting because I felt like I had been at “church” all weekend in the fiords...but when I went to mass it felt like there was all the sudden a very formal, impenetrable, “religious” wall between people and God. I don't think God put up that wall... nope, I think Jesus came to tear down a wall like that so we could each personally have a relationship with God. I'm so glad he did!
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