As we had done Milford Sound on our last trip to New Zealand, I thought I would take Ms P to Doubtful Sound, the bigger and more isolated counterpart to Milford Sound. To really experience the sound I thought we would do an overnight cruise, and settled on Real Journeys as our tour provider after reading some online reviews. Whilst there were other more boutique operators, Real Journeys had the most spacious vessel and seemed to have a good track record.
Overall I would recommend the cruise. The staff and food were excellent, with a cooked buffet spread for dinner and plenty of food in between. The double cabins were nice and clean with an ensuite in each. Doubtful Sound (in particular Hall Arm) were amazing. However I thought the kayaking / boat tour at Blanket Bay was a let down, with more time spent loading and unloading the boats and kayaks then actually spent on the water.
We were lucky enough to have dolphins ride our bow wave for a lot of the trip which provided plenty of photo opportunities. The ship also takes you to the entrance to Doubtful Sound where there is a seal colony. The unquestionable highlight was the the early morning stop at the serene Hall Arm, where the boat completely shuts down, and you get to enjoy the solitude and beauty of this gem of a place. I hope the photos below do Hall Arm some justice.
Waterfalls on the approach to Hall Arm.
Apparently the trees in the foreground provided inspiration for how the living trees would look in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Cruising in to Hall Arm in the early morning. It was too early in the day for the wind to have picked up, so the water was like a sheet of glass. Epic.
