Meet with your fellow expeditioners in Te Anau before traveling across Lake Manapouri and over the Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound (times and meeting point will be confirmed with your voyage documents). 

After a quiet night aboard, continue to explore the most spectacular scenery in all of Fiordland – Doubtful Sound, or the sound of silence as it’s also known. Spanning about 40-kilometres and as New Zealand’s deepest fiord, Doubtful Sound with its cloud-scraping wilderness cloaked mountains, sheer stone cliffs, waterfalls, inlets, quiet coves and wildlife presents nature on a scale so grand it’s off the chart. Sailing along the Fiordland coast towards the extensive protected waters that are Breaksea and Dusky Sounds, join your naturalists on deck to spot seabirds including the majestic Wandering and Buller’s Albatross. Breaksea Island guards the entrance to Breaksea Sound, it was here that the first successful island rat eradication program was completed and today Breaksea Island is a protected nature reserve of great significance to the many endangered species which call the island home.

We explore our way through the waters of Breaksea Sound and the Acheron Passage, Resolution Island is separated from the mainland by the scenic waters of Acheron Passage and at the southern end of the passage we enter Dusky Sound, be sure to be on the lookout for resident Bottlenose Dolphins as we navigate. This afternoon you might like to join the chefs fishing for tonight’s dinner, or take the kayaks for a shoreline exploration. Our time here may include venturing into Wet Jacket Arm where the crew of Cook’s Resolution ended up with wet jackets during their survey work. It is also the sight where Moose were released, and last seen, in New Zealand.

Visit Luncheon Cove on Anchor Island, where the first European boat was built in New Zealand. Take a short walk or explore along the coastline and be amazed by the birdlife with South Island Saddleback, Robins, Yellowhead and Parakeets in abundance on the island thanks to its predator free status. It was on nearby Pigeon Island pioneering conservationist Richard Henry was based during his time in Dusky Sound. At Astronomers Point there may be the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Captain Cook and his astronomer William Wales as it was here that the Resolution was moored during their time in Dusky Sound. Our expedition cruise through Dusky Sound visits the some of the most significant historical and conservation sites in New Zealand, as well as offering some of the most majestic scenery in New Zealand as we sail deep into the heart of Fiordland.

This morning Heritage Explorer sails to Supper Cove at the very head of Dusky Sound, it is a last opportunity for you to bask in the majesty of the fiords, then take in the grand views and awe-inspiring scenery as you enjoy a spectacular helicopter transfer back to Te Anau.