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Heritage Explorer, Southern Fiords Discovery ex Te Anau Return
Cruise Heritage Explorer, Southern Fiords Discovery ex Te Anau Return
Cruise Line Heritage Expeditions
Ship Heritage Explorer
Destination South Pacific & New Zealand
Brief Description 6 Night Cruise sailing from Preservation Inlet to Doubtful Sound aboard Heritage Explorer.
Type of Cruise Expedition
Departure Date 05 Sep 2022
Cruise Description 6 Night Cruise sailing from Preservation Inlet to Doubtful Sound aboard Heritage Explorer.

Day 1: Te Anau/Preservation Inlet
Make your way to the designated meeting point in Te Anau then take in the grand views and awe-inspiring scenery as you enjoy a spectacular helicopter transfer to join Heritage Explorer in Preservation Inlet (times and meeting point will be confirmed with your voyage documents). The captain and expedition leader will be waiting to welcome you aboard Heritage Explorer and show you to your cabin. Settle into life aboard before we set sail along Long Sound and enjoy your first impressions of the fiords and the unrestrained landscape of Southern Fiordland.

Day 2: Preservation Inlet
Today is dedicated to exploring Preservation Inlet, rich in history we will delve into the gold mining and forestry attempts that once made this now quiet waterway a bustling hub of activity. The area’s natural bounty saw more than 2,500 gold miners and saw millers flock to the region in the late 1890s, this early settler history at mining towns Cromarty and Te Oneroa, now reclaimed by nature, can still be observed, none more spectacularly than at the failed Tarawera Mine and Smelter, where the ruins of the smelter’s three-storey chimney were restored in 2015. Among the activity Preservation Inlet can also lay claim to having New Zealand’s first whaling station at Cuttle Cove and the location of one of the country’s most remote lighthouses at Puysegur Point, which began operation in 1879 perched some 40-feet above the south island’s most south-western point. Here a great coastal walk, formerly a telegraph track built to connect the lighthouse, leads to the old landing shed at Otago Retreat.

Day 3: Chalky Inlet
The entrance to Chalky Inlet is guarded by the impressive limestone cliffs of Chalky Island, the inspiration behind Captain Cook’s naming of the fiord. One of several important predator free islands in the inlet including Great Island and Passage Islands, Chalky Island is home to some of New Zealand’s most critically endangered bird species including the Little Spotted Kiwi and Kakapo, and endemic Te Kakahua Skink, discovered in 2002. The protected harbours at North and South Port offer much to explore as the centres of the human history in the inlet with North Port the final resting place of the rusting hulk of purposely grounded GSS Stella while South Port reveals an industrial past with the remnants of once prolific sawmilling activity. Sailing to the head of the fiord the surrounding mountains envelope us with their majesty.

Days 4 & 5: Dusky Sound
Over the following two days we plan to leisurely expedition cruise through Dusky Sound visiting the some of the most significant historical and conservation sites in New Zealand as well as marvelling at the majestic scenery as we sail deep into the heart of Fiordland. A navigation through Acheron Passage, which separates Resolution Island from the mainland, is sure to be one of the highlights or our time in Fiordland. Predator-free Anchor Island homes half of the world’s population of Kakapo and Little Spotted Kiwi and is also the location of historic Luncheon Cove and a number of New Zealand firsts including New Zealand’s first sealing gang, the building of New Zealand’s first European homestead and first European designed ship, the 16-metre Providence built here and launched in 1795. On nearby on Pigeon Island learn the history of Richard Henry and his pioneering live transfer of birds to island refuges – an international first in wildlife conservation. While his attempts were unsuccessful due to stoats swimming over to the island, it is heartening to learn the island is now pest free and a sanctuary for native birdlife, with Henry’s vision fulfilled.

Day 6: Breaksea & Doubtful Sounds
After a quiet night aboard surrounded by the nature and wilderness of Breaksea Sound join your naturalists on deck to spot seabirds including the majestic Wandering and Buller’s Albatross as we pass Breaksea Island, which guards the entrance to Breaksea Sound. It was on Breaksea Island that the first successful island rat eradication program was completed, today it is a protected nature reserve of great significance to the many endangered species which call the island home. From here we sail onwards towards some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Fiordland – Doubtful Sound, or the sound of silence as it’s also known. Spanning some staggering 40-kilometres and holding the title as New Zealand’s deepest fiord, Doubtful Sound with its cloud-scraping wilderness cloaked mountains, sheer cliffs, waterfalls, inlets, quiet coves and wildlife presents nature on a scale so grand it’s off the chart. Tonight we enjoy a farewell dinner.

Day 7: Doubtful Sound/Te Anau
This morning we navigate to the very head of Doubtful Sound in Deep Cove home to several waterfalls including Helena and Lady Alice Falls. After a final breakfast and farewells, head ashore where a transfer to Te Anau, via the picturesque Wilmot Pass, the road constructed as part of the Manapouri hydro scheme, awaits. In case of unexpected delays, we ask you not to book any onward travel from Te Anau until after 3pm this afternoon.

During our voyage, circumstances may make it necessary or desirable to deviate from the proposed itinerary. This can include poor weather and opportunities for making unplanned excursions. Your Expedition Leader will keep you fully informed. Voyages are planned and scheduled pending final regulatory approval.
Sailing Dates
21 Oct 2021
14 Aug 2022
05 Sep 2022
Pricing
Please enquire for pricing
Cruise Itinerary
Date Port Arrive Depart
5 Sep 2022 Te Anau, New Zealand Helicopter flight to Preservation Inlet
5 Sep 2022 Preservation Inlet, New Zealand Embark
6 Sep 2022 Preservation Inlet, New Zealand
7 Sep 2022 Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
8 Sep 2022 Dusky Sound, New Zealand
9 Sep 2022 Dusky Sound, New Zealand
10 Sep 2022 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand
11 Sep 2022 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand Disembark Transfer to Te Anau
11 Sep 2022 Te Anau, New Zealand
All itineraries and ports of call at the discretion of the cruise line subject to local weather conditions and may change without notice.

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