Deep Cove

Date 21/02/2015 Time 11.40

We have picked up a mooring at Deep Cove which is a tour and charter boat hub for the southern fiords. Since our last blog entry we explored Gaer Arm by kayak. We set out from base camp Ambler and paddled around Macdonnell Island then across a wide section of Bradshaw Sound shaping a course towards the right headland of Gaer Arm. Halfway across we found ourselves surrounded by locals - the resident population of Bottlenose Dolphins were passing through. The waters were still and the air silent except for the splash and breath of each dolphin, some passing only metres away from us. The cloud hung still over many of the peaks as if ensnared by them. Similarly the dolphins breath hung in a misty puff for a minute after they had dived. A truly magical experience. The reflections were worthy of many photos as we paddled to the head of Gaer Arm. We came back along the true right bank to a shorter crossing to our island.

By the way sorry for the lack of photos posted as our limited email connection travels over HF radio to a shore station in outback NSW in the form of screeches and squeals at speeds of about half that of your first ever copper cable modem. We will send photos when we get back to civilisation. Probably Bluff in a few weeks time.

That night we shared our tie in with an old ferry converted for accommodation and three smaller runabouts. One of which had caught two too many crayfish for dinner so we received them graciously. The Fiordland hospitality is really amazing.

On Thursday we set out for Deep Cove with misty passing showers and beams of bright sunlight behind us, we found ourselves heading straight for a rainbow which was touching down on each bank of the sound forming an archway ahead of us. A light tailwind greeted us as we turned into Doubtful Sound and allowed us to enjoy the silent quality of our surroundings again without Mr Perkins, our diesel engine, interjecting.

On arrival at Deep Cove, we put a radio call through to the hostel manager Billy, who kindly directed us to a mooring close by that we could use. We went ashore soon after and had a cuppa with Billy and his wife Wilma who makes delicious biscuits. With Billy's help were able to plan the next day's adventure in the form of a few bushwalks (tramps) in the valley.

So on Friday we walked along the Old Doubtful Sound track for an hour to the Wilmot Pass Road, then up a bulldozer track to Stella Falls. After that we walked back along the road to another track which led us to Helena falls and some encounters with rare Kiwis only to discover later that they were the common Wekas. Apparently kiwis are twice the size of a weka and are nocturnal. So some night walks may be in order! We then back tracked to visit the tailrace exit tunnel. There is an underground Hydro Station here that generates power from Lake Manapouri and redirects a lot of this energy to an Aluminium Smelter at Bluff.

We awoke this morning (Saturday) to a breeze blowing straight up the fiord bringing rain with it. We had a visit from a fishing charter boat 'Jewel' who kindly offered to take one of our empty gas bottles and refill it for us. We will catch up later on down the coast to collect it. We have been on our last gas bottle for ten days now and they usually last around 3 to 4 weeks. Our back up plan is the petrol hiking stove.

All is well and relaxed on board. Kathy and Wayne

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At 19/02/2015 8:57 AM (utc) our position was 45°27.77'S 167°09.37'E

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