Te Anau is a town of only 1960 residents and is located on the south-eastern shores of Lake Te Anau, the largest lake in New Zealand’s South Island. The town is overlooked by Mount Luxmore and the Murchinson Mountains and lies on the eastern boundary of the Fiordland National Park, which is part of the South West New Zealand U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Area. It is considered to be the gateway to the pristine wilderness areas of the south-west, making it an important tourist and transport hub. It is from here that the most scenic highway in New Zealand begins, the Milford Road Highway, which winds its way for 121 kilometres through extremely mountainous terrain to Milford Sound passing through the infamous Homer Tunnel and past the Mirror Lakes, Knob’s Flat and the Chasm. If taking this road please be advised to ensure a full tank of fuel before you leave, do not stop where sign posted due to avalanche threats and take snow chains during winter months.
The pretty lakeside resort of Te Anau offers visitors all the comforts of home from a wide range of accommodation, hotels, motels, B&B and camping sites, cafes, restaurants, a variety of retail outlets and a service station. Located in town is the very useful Department of Conservation Visitors Centre which supplies up to date information on walking tracks, hut passes and permits, plus weather forecasts which are very important in this alpine region. Te Anau is also a popular centre for enjoying the great outdoors via jet-boat, lake cruising, kayaking, rowing boats, horse trekking or simply walking and hiking, and enjoying scenic flights via light plane or helicopter. It is also possible to take a quick trip to the picturesque Lake Manapouri or enjoy a tour to the opposite side of Lake Te Anau by boat to visit the Te Ana Au Caves, where a slow trip into the dark caves will enable the viewing of thousands of glow-worms and where it is possible to explore a sequence of magical limestone grottos!!
Te Anau is also well known for being the starting point of many walking tracks including the Milford, Routeburn, Greenstone, Hollyford, Caples and Kepler Tracks. The Milford, Routeburn and Kepler Tracks form part of New Zealand’s Great Walking Trails, which are premium tracks and considered to pass through areas of great natural beauty.
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