ALL NZ
LOCATIONS

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ISLAND

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ISLAND

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FIORDLAND &
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DUNEDIN &
OTAGO
PENINSULA

MACKENZIE:
MT. COOK &
LAKE TEKAPO

CHRISTCHURCH & CANTERBURY

fiordland gives new zealand its greatest environmental test: can this fragile, unique region
be the nation's biggest attraction and not become overwhelmed by the pressures of tourism?
PHOTO CREDITS: TOURISM HOLDINGS-NZTourism (milford sound Sightseeing boat); chris mclennan-NZTourism (sea kayak);
destination taupo-NZTourism (misty milford sound); julian apse-NZTourism (routeburn hikers at snowy key summit);
home at first (milford sound with red flowers/MacKinnon pass milford track/milford sound with feathery reeds;
rob suisted-NZTourism (routeburn track hiker at falls); home at first (milford track - sutherland falls).
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Pristine habitat where parrots meet penguins. Here famed walking
tracks venture to where the ocean reaches into the Southern Alps.
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Attractions in Fiordland: Fiordland National Park protects one of the world's unique habitats—where deep, clean fingers of the Tasman Sea and Southern Ocean invade the 10,000 foot high Southern Alps. This is a land of unexpected juxtaposition: jungles, oceans, and snowcaps; penguins and parrots; environmental conservation and major tourism. Most people come to Fiordland for one or both of the two Milfords: Milford Sound and the Milford Track. But many leave having discovered something else: the modern challenge of eco-tourism—protecting the most fragile of environments while sharing its rich treasures with the world.
          Many visitors also discover that parts of Fiordland are among the world's rainiest places, and that Fiordland's swarms of sand-flies love tourists. But wet weather and bug 

Mitre Peak, Milford Sound, Fiordland's—
and New Zealand's—greatest attraction.
NZ Tourism Photo

bites discourage few from pressing on. Here's a partial listing of local activities that keep travelers from around the world making pilgrimages to the far southwestern corner of New Zealand's South Island:
 

Rte. 94 descending the Cleddau
Valley to Milford Sound.
 

• EXPLORING FIORDLAND BY CAR/BUS: For visitors,
   all Fiordland roads ultimately lead to the
   water's edge at Milford Sound. Highway 94
   travels north 60 miles from Te Anau town to
   Milford Sound, paralleling Lake Te Anau,
   passing the trailheads of the Routeburn and
   Hollyford Tracks before descending out of the
   Darran Mountains via the rough-hewn Homer
   Tunnel from alpine conditions to sea-level at
   Milford Sound.

NZ Tourism Photo

• EXPLORING FIORDLAND BY BOAT: Visitors to
   Milford Sound can join any of several cruise
   boats for trips onto the fjord lasting from an
   hour to overnight. Day cruisers also sail Lake
   Te Anau: some take walkers to the trailhead
   of the Milford Track. An unusual cruise-bus-
   cruise combination takes visitors across
   Lake Manapouri by boat, across the Wilmot
   Pass by bus, then onto Doubtful Sound for
   day or overnight cruises.

Hikers board boat on Lake Te Anau for
90-minute cruise to Milford Track trailhead.
 

Swing bridge on the Routeburn Track.
 

• EXPLORING FIORDLAND ON FOOT: Fiordland is the
   regions where several of New Zealand's Great
   Walks are located. Four of these "tracks"—
   Milford, Routeburn, Hollyford, and Kepler—require
   multiple days to be experienced in their
   entirety. However, guests with limited time,
   energy, or funds can get a glimpse of each of
   these walks by taking day hikes: commercially
   organized or on their own.

• EXPLORING FIORDLAND BY AIR: Numerous
   flight-seeing options enable visitors to see
   the varied terrain of Fiordland from the air
   by helicopter or small, fixed wing aircraft.
   Long-distance walkers of the Hollyford
   Track have an option of flying out from
   Martin's Bay to Milford Sound.

Cessna 180 awaiting passengers from the
Hollyford Track at the Martin's Bay airstrip
cut out of the dense rain forest.
 

Activities in Fiordland: Hiking the Milford, Kepler, Routeburn, Greenstone, and Hollyford Tracks. Cruising the region's great fiords: Milford, Doubtful and Dusky. Riding the Kingston Flyer, one of the last great legacies of New Zealand's glorious national steam narrow-gauge rail system.

The Kingston Flyer takes on water before
steaming from Kingston to Fairlight and back.

Lodgings: Top quality bed and breakfast lodgings in Te Anau, the largest town and activity center for Fiordland. See 2 sample lodgings here:
Te Anau Guesthouse     •     Te Anau Lodge

Home At First's Te Anau Guesthouse
provides comfortable lodgings and a
convenient location for touring and
activities in Fiordland.

Getting around Fiordland: Use of a rental car is essential here. Except for occasional bottlenecks at the historic Homer Tunnel near Milford, roads in Fiordland are usually lightly traveled.

Visitors to Fiordland may meet the
mischievous kea alpine parrot at
parking points near the Homer Tunnel
and huts and other gathering points
along the great walks of Fiordland.

Getting to/from Fiordland: Home At First guests arrive in Fiordland by rental car, normally coming south and west from Queenstown in 2.5-3 hours. Most depart Te Anau for Queenstown, or further northeast to Mt. Cook/Lake Tekapo in 5-6 scenic hours, or east 3-4.5 hours to Dunedin.

Fiordland crested penguins nest and breed in
caves and undergrowth where the rain forest
and the sea come together in Fiordland.

Fiordland crested penguins.
Photo Gilbert van Reenen - NZ Tourism
 

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HOME AT FIRST IS A DESIGNATED "KIWI SPECIALIST"
TOUR OPERATOR BY THE NEW ZEALAND TOURISM BOARD.


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