Our cabin on the ‘Southern Secret’ is very comfortable. We both slept well with calm water all evening.
Unfortunately, yesterdays’ good weather isn’t holding. It’s overcast and a little cool when we rise. The Sound is still beautiful. It’s about a 3-hour cruise back to Deep Cove where the ship will dock. Along the way we were lucky enough to spot a rare (and very shy) Fiordland Crested Penguin on Shelter Island.
The ferry ride across Lake Manapuri and the shuttle to Te Anau take about 3 hours and we arrived back in town a little after noon. For the afternoon, we booked a tour of the Glowworm Caves, is a short boat ride across Lake Te Anau. The cave structure is pretty wild with deep cuts through the limestone caused by the underground ‘Tunnel Burn’ stream. The glowworms are interesting – first time we’ve seen any. The tour includes an underground boat ride in the dark where the glow of the worms really stands out.
We returned to the Aden Motel for our final evening in Te Anau. The skies have cleared and we were treated to a fine sunset over the lake.
Dick
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Really nice nights’ sleep, it is unbelievably quiet on the boat. Clint restarts the engines at 6:00 am sharp, the signal the day is beginning. It is rainy and very cool on the sound this morning. We all pile into the cockpit with Clint as he heads us back to Deep Cove. Breakfast is a casual affair, a cold buffet to eat when you want.
Back in Te Anau by 12:30, we grab a quick bite before our tour of the glow worms. Another boat ride to get to the caves. The caves are amazing, worth the price of admission alone. Glow worms are interesting creatures. They spend most of their short life in the larva/pupa stage and they catch food by casting out little strings that look like fishing lines. Once they mature into a very small mosquito like creature, they mate, lay new glow worms and die.
We spend our last night back in Te Anau.
Mary