We’d heard from a few folks that Doubtful Sound was actually better than Milford Sound (the more popular of the two), so that’s the way we went. I think it’s probably true- Milford is only more popular because you can actually drive to it, whereas to get to Doubtful you have to take a boat, then drive, then take another boat.
So we did all that and took a full day kayaking tour. They suited us up in some awesome wetsuits, kayak skirts and raincoats and then we were off (and looking good, I might add)! It was raining, which I thought kind of sucked (oooh goody, I get to be wet and cold all day long), but everyone we talked to swears that it’s actually prettier when it’s raining because you get bigger waterfalls coming off of the mountains. I wonder if this is actually not true at all and people just say this a) to make themselves feel better about their tour, and b) because it rains all the flipping time there, so the likelihood of getting a sunny day is slim and they don’t want the tourists complaining. The sunny postcards looked pretty damn nice….
The tour was nice, but we were a bit torn between just enjoying the kayaking and actually trying to stay close enough to our guide to hear what he was saying about everything. We saw a couple of yellow eyed penguins and some flying fish, lots and lots of clouds, mist and fog, and very pretty mountains.
That night we went to the glowworm caves, which were freaking amazing. The glowworms are these maggots that are about an inch long and their butts light up to attract food. They make these nests with little strings that hang down with a paralyzing agent on them to catch the bugs their lights attract. We did a short hike through a cave to get to them, then hopped in a small boat. It was pitch black except for the worms- the cave looked like a starry sky with bright blue stars. It was really beautiful. And then you remember that they’re maggots.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures (their lights go out when light is shined on them), so here are some images from the folks who run the tour:
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