As promised, David started the boat up at 6:00 am to get the generator running so we could all get hot showers and they could get the kitchen running. What a luxury to have bathrooms in each bedroom and a shower too. People started wandering upstairs and a few had their coffee outside in the waking light on deck. Jenny had breakfast ready to go and she was already hard at work getting lunch ready for the next batch of people they would pick up today after they dropped us off.
Our special treat this morning after breakfast was being visited by a dozen plus bottle nose dolphins. David stopped the boat when he saw the pod out ahead of us. You aren't allowed to approach dolphins but you must wait for them to approach you. And they came right for us and wanted to play. David slowly inched the boat ahead and the dolphins swam and jumped and put on quite a show for us. They are big mammals (not fish) and they would blow air every time they surfaced. Everyone was in awe of how close and friendly they were. They eventually pulled ahead of us and then disappeared. By far the most dolphins we have seen all at once and this close. Beautiful animals.
We got back to Deep Cove where David parked the boat and Jenny and Wilma prepped the boat for the next batch of folks. Dave and Jenniy work 16 hour days for a week and then get a week off so hats off to them for all their hard work.
We got to see keas on the dock at Deep Cove which are kind of rare. They are pretty big guys and they are protected. Lots of signs saying do not feed them.
David put all 9 of us in the van and drove us up over the mountain to meet the ferry. He is practiced at driving this narrow, steep, and twisty road. You need to be on your toes because even though there is little traffic, when a truck comes the other way, everybody has to know what to do and fast. We met a fuel tanker truck today and would not want to cross him.
The ferry was waiting for us and we had a chance to go to the visitor center there that explains the hydro dam. I did not realize what a big project it is. It is all underground with 7 large turbines and a 2.4 km tunnel that spirals down underground. They just replaced the turbines in 2005 (originals were installed in 1969) and they had one of the original turbines outside where I noticed all the cavitation damage from 30+ years of operation. The joy of being an engineer on vacation.
The ferry is a twin hull job which feels like it flies when it gets up to speed. It takes 45 minutes to cross Lake Manapouri and we were met by another van that took us back to Te Anau where our car was parked.
So now the plan is to drive to Queenstown where we will spend the night. We stopped for lunch at Five Rivers at a cafe that Roo and Emma recommended, and then arrived in Queenstown around 3:30 pm. Queenstown put us a bit on edge because it is really busy, especially after our day in the Doubtful Sound solitude. Lots of tourists (like us) and lots of traffic. Google helped us get downtown and we found free parking an easy walking distance from the center of Queenstown. We walked through the beach area and found all the shops and eateries.
The reason this town is so popular is obvious. The view from town is something out of Switzerland, with the long lake and high mountains. Just a little too crowded for us country folk.
Deb bought me a pint of Guinness and we found the burger place called Fergburgers that we'd heard about. The line was all the way up the block but it moved quickly and we decided to split a burger after seeing the size of them. Delicious.
Walked back to the car and drove back to the motel. Some laundry and bed.
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