If living through a pandemic has taught me anything, I would say that the greatest lesson has been to really appreciate nature and wildlife. One of the countries that literally blew my mind with its nature was New Zealand. My husband and I visited New Zealand in 2018 Spring, and we toured both Islands, but my absolute favourite activity by far was our overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound. Located in Fiordland in the far southwest of New Zealand, Doubtful Sound is one of two Fjords; the other one being Milford Sound. Doubtful sound is more difficult to get to and far less popular however that is what I consider to be its best feature. 

To get to Doubtful Sound, we first drove from Queenstown to Te Anau; a beautiful lake town with incredible views of its own. We did, unfortunately, encounter a snowstorm on the way. Be aware that this area of New Zealand gets a fair share of snow right up until Summer, so plan accordingly. We had an overnight stay in Te Anau, and early the next morning we drove to the cruise office, a very short drive from our hotel. We were cruising with Southern Secret Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises, and I highly recommend this company; it is very small with a maximum of 12 guests.  We got very lucky, we were the only ones who had booked for that date, and we actually experienced a private cruise! Do keep in mind that it is definitely a trek to get into Doubtful Sound, we had a van drive to Lake Manapouri and boarded a ferry boat there; which in turn took us into Doubtful Sound where our cruise awaited. The reason I suggest this small of a cruise is that it is much more personal; we got to know the captain and first mate/cook so well and we were basically in charge as far as where we wanted to go, what we wanted to see and what activities we wished to engage in. As we began our 21-hour adventure we got to know our captain and first mate; they were absolutely lovely people who explained how everything works, showed us to our cabin and basically told us it was our trip and that we would be telling them what we wished to see/do for the entire time. 

After we settled into our very comfortable cabin, complete with its own ensuite, we were excited to begin our cruise. The surroundings were absolutely breathtaking, and it was the kind of experience where you felt someone might pinch you and you would wake up from a magnificent dream! As we cruised around the views just got better and better; the captain had told us that he had seen a whale that morning and we spent a lot of time trying to find him again, but he did a great job hiding from us. We did, however, get to see some dolphins and penguins in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, we could not get quite close enough to get a good-quality photo, but both are etched in our memories forever. 

One of the activities we chose to do was kayaking. It was such an amazing experience; being at one with this breathtakingly beautiful setting, it’s a memory I will never forget!  

Another exciting activity that we chose to undertake was to head to the edge of the Tasman Sea and do some fishing. That experience was very fun as it was easy to catch a beautiful fish; we did of course throw them back in. On our way back in from the Tasman Sea we were told that we needed to go check the traps for crayfish. This sounded like a fun thing to do of course but little did we know that we would actually have the experience of setting and bringing them in! And by the way, what they refer to as “crayfish” we refer to as “lobster”, and the ones we were bringing in were to become part of our evening meal. 

As we continued to travel through Doubtful Sound, we encountered several natural waterfall formations, another marvel to hungry eyes. The next morning, we awoke and had a lovely breakfast waiting for us as we cruised around a bit more. We then headed to the dock, where we would depart and leave this once-in-a-lifetime experience behind. 

In conclusion, if you asked me “Would I do it again?” my answer would be “Absolutely 100%!” Do not leave this experience out of your next luxury getaway to New Zealand.