Dusky Sound

Dusky Sound, New Zealand's longest fjord (44km), is also one of the most beautiful, with numerous wooded islands and inlets. It was given its name by Captain Cook, who sailed past the fjord on his first voyage, in 1770, as evening was falling. In 1773, on his second voyage, he sailed into the sound and spent over 6 weeks overhauling his ship, the Resolution, and taking in supplies. He encountered groups of shy Maoris, who had perhaps withdrawn to this remote area in the face of attacks by more aggressive tribes. George Forster gives a vivid account of the meeting with the Maoris and also of a plague of sandflies. Nowadays the area is almost uninhabited, but the sandflies are still there. The seals that were once common in the fjord were almost wiped out by sealers, but since the ban on seal hunting their numbers have increased.

The fjord can be reached by land only on difficult tracks taking off from the road along Doubtful Sound or, in the south, from Lake Hauroko. The best way of seeing the fjord, with its many islands and inlets, is on a seaplane flight. Cruises in a motor sailing ship, run by Fiordland Travel, start from Deep Cove, in Doubtful Sound. Information from the national park's visitor center in Te Anau.