BACKGROUND
Fiord (also spelled as Fjord) refers to "a long narrow strip of sea between high cliffs" in the Oxford dictionary.
The Fiordland National Park (FNP), straddles the 45 degrees latitude line. It is also the largest NP in New Zealand and one of the largest in the world. The weather in the FNP is dominated by frequent gale force westerly airflows (also known as the Roaring Forties) making it extremely changeable and often dramatic. In some areas, the rainfall can be as heavy as 8000mm a year making the coast of Fiordland one of the wettest place on earth. Singapore gets about one-third of that!

While the mountains in the FNP are often shrouded in black clouds the lower altitudes are occupied by rocks, ice and beech forests where in some places “some glaciers have carved mile-deep notches into the coast”. At 1.2 million hectares (or 3 million acres), the FDP can be so remote due to its inaccessibility that some parts have never been explored!

 

THE EXPEDITION
Alex arrives in Nelson this 26 May 2007 where he will meet up with Richard (New Zealander) & May (Singaporean). And of course, they will be checking their equipment and some 15 days worth of Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) & food & their tents, sleeping bags, cooking sets & kayaks and other equipment before driving (almost) the entire length of South Island to Manapouri.

(But before they start driving south, there will be a steamboat dinner to reminiscence the last one they had where steamed rice & soya sauce were also served...hm.....)

Manapouri lies some 650km (bird's path) SSW of Nelson.
(Alex is too lazy to run through the map to find out the exact distance.)
From Manapouri, a combination of ferry-4WD will take them some 45km (estimated) to Deep Cove which is situated more towards the 45°30' than 45°15' in the Doubtful Sound area.

In the last 10 weeks or so, Alex has done 12 Round Pulau Ubin (22km) kayak trainings on top of his twice/thrice-weekly runs. The trainings were mandatory even though it would not have directly prepared the Singaporean for the swells (in NZ) that would measure in metres! When Alex told Richard that he had seen some 3-feet swells off Pulau Ubin whenever a ship went past, he drew some laughter from the Kiwi who had vast experiences with huge swells (measured in metres, not feet!, i say again, in metres!!!) and natural phenomenons like "wind-bombs" that Alex had only read about in books.

Richard very recently paddled the D'Urville Island, an island that lies in between the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. That D'Urville Island lies in the narrow straits between 2 huge chunks of land (the North and South Island) should give one some idea how challenging conditions can become! May has been accumulating her water time alternating between sea and river kayaking 2-3 times each week in and around the Christchurch area where she works.

Since May works in a kayak shop in Christchurch, it is the most likely that she meets more kayakers on a daily basis than any one of us. Reports from some of her clients(a fortnight ago) were that there had been snow in the Fiordland National Park! Guess the trip will be cool and very cold!

Alex Koh.
13 May 2007.Singapore.