Lake Te Anau

Te Anau covers about 344 square kilometres, the largest lake in the South Island and second in the country only to Taupo, and its shape is the point: three long arms - North, Middle and South Fiord - reach west into the mountains, drowned glacial valleys that give the lake a fiord character on a freshwater body. The eastern side is farmland and the township; the western side is Fiordland National Park with no road access at all. The best-known trip is to the Te Ana-au glowworm caves on the western shore, reached by boat and then walked and punted through a limestone system that is geologically young and still being cut by the stream running through it. The town is the base for the Milford Road, the Kepler and Milford tracks and the Fiordland flights, so it functions as a staging post. The Te Anau Bird Sanctuary on the lakefront holds takahe.

What you actually see

• The three fiord arms - drowned valleys reaching into the mountains.
• Te Ana-au caves - glowworms, reached by boat and punt.
• The roadless western shore - Fiordland National Park across the water.
• The bird sanctuary - takahe on the lakefront in town.

When to go

October to April. Cave trips run year round and need booking. Still mornings for reflections; the lake gets rough in wind.

Honest expectations

Cave tours are ticketed and involve a boat, a walk and a punt in the dark - not suitable for anyone very claustrophobic. Sandflies at the shore. The western side is inaccessible except by boat or air.

Nearby

Manapouri is south; the Milford Road and the Kepler Track start here.