We left early in the morning from our motel in Te Anau & headed out on Hwy 95 to Manapouri to catch our boat across Lake Manapouri to Doubtful Sound. Shortly after boarding the boat & enjoying a ubiquitous cup of tea several magical rainbows appeared off the port side of the boat. We skimmed across the water listening to our pilot provide historical facts about the area & lake. 50 minutes later we disembarked at West Arm & quickly boarded a bus where our driver & Nature Guide, Lloyd provided commentary on the fauna & flora of the area. 45 minutes later over a gravel mountain road we disembarked to board our Fiordland Expeditions boat, the Tutoko II. It was small & there were only 14 of us for the trip. Our captain, Shaun, & the mates, Anna & Maria quickly got things rolling w/ - safety briefing-"Be Safe" & a glass of champagne. We knew we were going to like this boat. We were assigned to the Pent House, which meant we were sleeping on the top of the boat in a bunkhouse w/ two other couples-each person in their own bunk bed. The loo was so small that it was tough to turn around & the only shower on board was strategically placed about the toilet to save space. Just as we started Anna brought big bowls of hot mac & cheese to warm us up. We set sail w/Shaun pointing out the sights including waterfalls & the amount of rain they received (a lot!). We soon found several fur seals basking on the rocks & shortly thereafter we came across our first crested penguin. More started popping out of the forest on the rocky shore & soon we had sighted about 6. Until 2 years ago there weren't any of the second rarest penguin in the world in Doubtful Sound but they have been busy & are multiplying. We continued to motor towards the Tasman Sea & reached a spot where Shaun had placed several crayfish pots. They are really spiny lobsters, but nobody wanted to eat them under that name. We hauled in the first pot & it contained 12 keepers, best haul of the season. We all got a chance to hold them (too spiky to pet & they will grab you w/ their claws if you're not careful) & have our picture taken w/ them. I don't think anyone had a chance to name one though. We set off for the next pot & got 5 more keepers. A nice days' work & the makings of a nice meal. Further on we stopped to fish for more of our meal. We pulled in a few ocean perch, a barracuda, a blue cod & then Vic caught the largest fish, a Taranikihi, also good as sashimi. It rained off & on but we still went up on the deck & took pics of the beautiful scenery. The crew took volunteers for kayaking. It was getting near supper time so we started our happy hour. It was perfectly fine to bring booze on this boat & every one was prepared. Three young ladies, originally from Iowa, brought on 3 bottles. We were conservative & only brought 2 1/2 bottles for the two of us. The chef brought us veggie soup soon followed by by our crayfish. Priceless! What a great meal. Oops, too early to quit. Large dishes heaped with potatoes, salad & 3 different kinds of fish. All the while the wine flowed. Dessert was a caramel drenched chocolate muffin. We found out later that our trip had been organized by our very own Muffin. It was his idea to start the festivities w/ the bubbly when we boarded. Everyone sat around & traded stories. Of course Tracy wanted to know who snored since we had 6 people in our Pent House. This caused much merriment & tattling on each others partner. We retired first for the evening as Vic was feeling achy. We snuggled in & listened to the non stop rain. Sometime after mid night Liz & James came up. It turns out James was the snorer.
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