Te Anau, Southland, New Zealand

Visit to Te Anau. 16th-18th December 2012

I was excited about going to Te Anau. It was a place that I had not been to so far during the year, and had heard so many great things about it, particularly from my parents, who had been there in early 2011.

Te Anau sits on the border of Fiordland National Park, which is New Zealand’s largest National Park, and is famous for it’s Lake, which is the largest Lake in the South Island. It is also within close proximity to the Milford Sounds. There is a lot of wildlife, water activities and hiking that can be done. I was ready for a few days of adventures.

We arrived just after 8pm on the Sunday night, and it had just started to rain. We weren’t bothered. Later that night, we met the owner of Edgewater motels who told us that the road to Milford was due to be closed for the next two days. Bummer.

After sorting ourselves out in the little motel room, we went for a little walk into town. It was tiny – a street of shops, mainly cafes, tourist shops, a bar, bank and a four square supermarket. There was very little life about.

Part of the main street in Te Anau.

December 17th, we woke to a downpour of rain at 8am, and again with the confirmation that the road to Milford was indeed closed due to rockfall. So most of our plans weren’t dead in the water. Would have paid to have made a backup plan.

There is quite a lot to do in Te Anau other than Milford Sound. Cruises were going out to Doubtful sound, which is a lot less touristy and focuses more on the wildlife. However, this was a costly $200 each for a half day trip, so we thought we would save our money for activities in Queenstown and Wanaka.

After a short wonder around town, we were told of a small wee cinema at the bottom end of town, which shows a film about Fiordland. It is called Ata Whenua, which translates into ‘shadowland’ a term Maori call the Mountain terrian of Fiordland.
The film is 45 minutes long and is a recording of the entire National Park taken from a helicopter. It shows the park in the depths of winter, during snowstorms, as well as in summer with lots of wildlife. It was pretty amazing to see.

The rest of our afternoon was spent trying to avoid the rain, but Te Anau isn’t great for that unless you want to sit in a pub all day. So we spent a lot of our time resting in the motel unit.

Around 8pm there was a sudden burst of pink light through our window. I looked out and there was the most amazing sunset through the clouds. So we went a long walk by the Lake, and I am so glad we did – stunning photographs (see below), just like a painting.

December 18th, we woke to a grey and overcast day, but to the news that the road to Milford was open. This was disapointing news, as it was something we really wanted to do, but we knew that even if we left at 9am, it would mean getting to Wanaka really late at night, and we didn’t want to cut short our time in Wanaka. So we left Te Anau around 9am, via Lake Manapouri, which is a 20 minute drive out of Te Anau, and then onto Wanaka. I drove most of the way, and was in awe of some of the scenery. Te Anau is really a beautiful part of New Zealand. One I hope to spend more time exploring one day.

Frasers Beach at Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapouri

In between Te Anau and Queenstown