Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound

Bobby, Eric, and Adrienne getting ready for a helicopter tour of Dusky and Doubtful Sounds. Both fiords are very remote and not accessable by car. There are only 2 hiking trails that lead into the region and both take 5-7 days to hike.

A beautiful view of Lake Te Anau just before take off.
Our first landing was made in Dusky Sound where we explored for about 20 minutes before lifting back off to explore the rest of the region.

The island in the right upper corner of the picture is where Captain Cook (British explorer) first landed when he sailed to New Zealand.

The beautiful mountains of the Fiordland National Park, the largest National Park in New Zealand.

Eric looks on as Rod, the piolot, prepares to land on the plateau seen in the middle of the picture. The flat snowy area seen in the middle of the mountains is a mountain lake that is still frozen from Winter.

This is where we made our second landing and were able to hike around for about 20 minutes and enjoy the awsome views.

Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapuri is just 20 miles South of Te Anau. We hiked around the lake and stayed at a cabin that had a wood burning oven and gas stove to cook on. The cabins were all built by the owner as well as the furniture inside. The lake is beautiful and the sunrise view from the porch of the cabin the next morning was awsome!

Mt Cook/Aoraki National Park

Mount Cook/Aoraki is the tallest mountain in New Zealand (3754m) and a popular place for ice climbers and moutaineers. One third of this National Park is permanently covered in ice and snow.

Sheep are by far the most common sight in New Zealand and covered the road on our drive to Mt Cook. They outnumber people 35 to 1 during lambing time and constitute a significant portion the local economy. The amount of lamb consumed per capita is 20 kg annually.

Looking south from the Mueller Glacier after a short hike. You can see the dirt road we drove up on the right side of the valley. The scale is so hart to appreciate in a picture, but it is definitely vast.

The crystal clear bright blue water of Lake Pukaki is runoff from glaciers in the Mt Cook National Park. This area boasts the longest glacier in the Australias. Needless to say, the water is ice cold.

Canterbury

This is one of the rivers that Eric is navigating during the canoeing leg of his trip. If you look closely you can see Bobby and Eric skipping rock from the river bank. This was part of the last leg of our trip on the way from Mount Cook to Christchurch before flying back to Aukland.