Caswell Sound

Date: 11/01/15 Time: 17.45pm Position: Caswell Sound

We had a great two days in George Sound with sunny skies. On our first morning we awoke to see the waterfall (Alice Falls) at our anchorage had doubled in volume and there were a few new creeks running into the bay that hadn't been there the afternoon before. We had had a solid night of rain and our water containers were full as well as the dinghy (Oops!). It's great to be able to collect our own rainwater. That day we went kayaking and explored the South West Arm which is the second arm of George Sound. Needless to say we saw countless waterfalls with quite a few coming over the sheer cliffs above us and landing straight into the water. A lot of these waterfalls had disappeared by the time we sailed out two days later. We collected enough mussels for our dinner off a submerged rope that had been left hanging from a branch. Since it was such a clear day we had an awesome view of the high, rocky skylines. Most of the peaks surrounding this sound were around 1500m. On our way back to the boat we saw three spouts in the air above the water ahead of us. Thinking they were dolphins we headed over in that general direction. However, they were not dolphins because they did not resurface even though we waited for twenty minutes and the water spouts were much higher and wider than a dolphin. Perhaps they were small, toothed whales?

Yesterday morning was chilly as we dinghied across the bay to George Sound Hut. It is a hut run by the Department of Conservation and sleeps up to eight people. It is part of the walk called the George Sound Track that goes from George Sound to Lake Te Anau. We followed this track up alongside Katherine Creek to Lake Katherine and then onto Henry Pass at 830m. It was a beautiful walk through rainforest and became very steep as we reached the pass. On the track we saw many elk prints in the muddier sections and as we began to cross a clearer area we saw an elk with huge antlers grazing in the clearing. I don't how they move through the forest with those huge antlers. As we ascended out of the scrub into the alpine environment we saw several different types of wildflowers. It was fantastic to be at this high elevation and the view was great with not a cloud in the sky. By the time we returned to the dinghy after 10 1/2 hours of walking and climbing 830m we were absolutely exhausted.

Today (Wednesday) we had a weather forecast for 10 knot variable winds so we left George Sound for Caswell Sound 13nm down the coast. Once offshore we had a headwind from the south west of less than 5 knots in rolly conditions. It wasn't the most agreeable or comfortable trip down. We are now anchored at the head of Caswell Sound in quite a nice, open anchorage with the anchor down and one sternline ashore.

All is well with the aroma of baking bread coming from the galley. Kathy and Wayne

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