Dusky Sound

Dusky is about forty kilometres long with a maze of arms, coves and islands - the largest and most intricate of the fiords, and the one almost nobody sees, because there is no road, no cruise operation of the Milford kind and no easy way in. Cook anchored here in March and April 1773 for nearly two months on his second voyage, resting a scurvy-ridden crew, and it is where his party brewed spruce beer, cleared the first European garden in the country and made astronomical observations - Astronomers Point still shows tree stumps cut by his men. The fiord is a stronghold for wildlife: Fiordland crested penguins, bottlenose dolphins, fur seals, and on the predator-free islands, saddleback and other species moved there for safety. Access is a multi-day charter from Manapouri, a scenic flight, or the Dusky Track - a nine-day route with a reputation for mud and flooded rivers that is firmly for experienced trampers.

History

Māori are believed to have camped by the sound while hunting moa, and Captain Cook noted its entrance in 1770, naming it Dusky Bay. On his second voyage he spent two months here in March and April 1773, setting up workshops and an observatory, and his crew is believed to have brewed the first beer in New Zealand; from 1792 it was a favoured place for sealers, whose party from the Britannia built the first European house in New Zealand and the first ship in Australasia (Wikipedia, Dusky Sound).

What you'll find

• The fiord maze - forty kilometres of arms, coves and islands.
• Astronomers Point - stumps cut by Cook's crew in 1773.
• The wildlife - tawaki, dolphins, fur seals, island bird refuges.
• The emptiness - no road, no cruise terminal, very few people.

When to go

November to April. Charters and flights need booking well ahead and are weather-dependent. The Dusky Track is a nine-day commitment for experienced parties only.

What to expect

There is no cheap or quick way in - charters and flights are expensive and cancel for weather. The Dusky Track floods and has a hard reputation. Sandflies are severe. Rain is the normal condition here.

Nearby

Doubtful Sound is north; Manapouri and Te Anau are the mainland bases.

Key facts