Doubtful and/or Milford Sound?
Feb 10th, 2004, 03:32 PM
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Doubtful and/or Milford Sound?
We are thinking about driving from Queenstow and catching Real Journeys' 11:30 Doubtful Sound Cruise that day. We come back at 7:45 and drive to Te Anau and crush that night. On the next day, we will drive to Milford Sound and do the cruise by Real Journeys or by Mire Peak. We realized that doing 2 tours can be very expensive. Should we do just one? or Should we see both Doubtful and Milford? Are doing two worth the money and time? Any comments on tour companies that I mentioned? Thanks a bunch!!
Feb 10th, 2004, 10:18 PM
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I would not think that it is worth it to do both of these cruises, unless you had really bad weather on the first one. If it were up to me, I would choose Doubtful Sound, as being a more extensive and less-crowded cruise. I would then spend the next day taking the beautiful drive from Te Anau to Milford, making a bunch of stops along the way - instead of taking another cruise.
Never heard of Real Journeys. There are very few boats that do the Doubtful Sound Trip - I wonder if they are representing another company that actually runs the tour.
Never heard of Real Journeys. There are very few boats that do the Doubtful Sound Trip - I wonder if they are representing another company that actually runs the tour.
Feb 11th, 2004, 05:00 PM
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Neko -
I went on a day cruise on both Milford and Doubtful Sounds last March and really enjoyed both. It would be hard to choose between them, since they are each beautiful in their own way. There is more wildlife and fewer crowds on Doubtful. I went with Real Journeys for both trips (used to be Fiordland Travel) and they run an excellent operation. Their boat on Milford was not as big and crowded as the Big Red Boat looked.
Martha
I went on a day cruise on both Milford and Doubtful Sounds last March and really enjoyed both. It would be hard to choose between them, since they are each beautiful in their own way. There is more wildlife and fewer crowds on Doubtful. I went with Real Journeys for both trips (used to be Fiordland Travel) and they run an excellent operation. Their boat on Milford was not as big and crowded as the Big Red Boat looked.
Martha
Feb 11th, 2004, 10:16 PM
#5
I had the opposite experience of Martha. We took The Big Red Boat because it was much less crowded than the Real Journeys boat. The day we were there, we saw bus loads of tourists board the Real Journeys boat, apparently as part of a tour, whereas, individual tourists seemed to be boarding the Big Red Boat.
Perhaps we were just there the day The Big Red Boat didn't have a tour group to contend with - who knows.
Perhaps we were just there the day The Big Red Boat didn't have a tour group to contend with - who knows.
Feb 12th, 2004, 08:13 AM
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Thank you all for great opinions!! I still have not decided yet if we are going to do Doubtful or Milford. Our hotel, Lakefront Lodge in Te Anau, suggested that we use Mitre Peak Cruises. Can someone share experieces with this company? One more thing, I get motion sickness very easily ... I am very concerned about taking small cruises especially Doubtful Sound where we have to take 2 cruises and a bus. Please share opinions with me. Thanks!!
Feb 12th, 2004, 08:57 AM
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Both Sounds are quite sheltered, so you are not going to experience much sea motion, except perhaps at the one point where each Sound meets the Tasman Sea. Likewise, there is very little wave action on Lake Manapouri, on the approach to Doubtful Sound. You may not be interested in taking the bus down into the Manapouri power station tunnel, which corkscrews in a tunnel through a mountainside. Otherwise, the bus ride is fairly straight.
ALF
ALF
