Fiordland in New Zealand will always be the place that I heard the news of David Bowie’s death, “(f)or here Am I sitting in a tin can” (Space Oddity, 1969) aboard Le Soleal. A spectacular sunset as a musical supernova goes dark. “Look up here, I’m in heaven” (Lazarus, 2015).
Musician, actor, artist, recluse. I had forgotten that I was a secret fan until I saw the superlative V&A exhibition “David Bowie Is” at the ACMI in late October last year. Now showing in The Netherlands, it is worth a trip to Japan in 2017 to see it again.
Today’s destinations are Dusky Sound in the morning, and Doubtful Sound in the afternoon. Zodiacs are dropped early in the morning, but unfortunately the low pressure system we have been trying to avoid has exerted its influence over fiordland.
Dusky Sound is fairly devoid of wildlife as a result, and we don’t see the coveted Fiordland penguin. We do however make it as far as Astronomer’s Point to see the plaque commemorating Captain Cook’s 5 week anchorage here in 1773 with the Resolution.
The sailing to Doubtful Sound is a rough few hours on the open sea, with 35 knot winds hitting Le Soleal on the port side. Doubtful Sound is overcast and rains most of the afternoon and evening, but the waters of the sound are calm in comparison to the open sea. There are many waterfalls that are mostly run-off from the heavy rain the area has received from the low pressure system. They would be spectacular in sunlight but the low light today renders everything in black and white.
Despite the rain, the sounds are pretty busy…Celebrity Solstice follows Le Soleal into Doubtful Sound, and the Fiordland Navigator and three other small local boats are sailing around in the rain.
We are heading back out into the sea to get to Milford Sound for our last morning on Le Soleal tomorrow. Hopefully Milford Sound will have better weather than Dusky and Doubtful Sounds have shown us.
