The park is packed with tight, steep dramatic crystalline-rock mountains that are resistant to erosion. It gets 23-39 ft of pounding rainfall annually, but its mountains and 14 fjords bring adventurers, trekkers, cruise boats and people like us who just like the outdoors. Most people come to visit the only easily accessible fjord in the park, Milford Sound. We’ll be heading to the second most visited fjord - second by a big margin. But more on that tomorrow.
We arrived in Te Anau in early afternoon, and walked a km along the lake to the National Park headquarters. This is a great place for hiking. Unfortunately, we have other plans and a relatively short stay. We’d booked a late-afternoon tour to the Te Anau Glowworm caves. Glow worms are found only in New Zealand and Australia, and the species in this cave is unique to New Zealand. They are the larval stage of a fungal gnat. We were shown several rather gross videos of them vomiting up sticky filaments to capture flying insects, and sucking out the eyes of a captured moth. The filaments are pretty, like beaded single-strand spider webs. But oh so deadly to an insect drawn to the glowworm’s light.
No photos are allowed in the cave, so there’s nothing to show beyond the scenic 30 minute boat ride out to Te Anau Caves. “Te Anau” (rhymes with Keanu) means “cave of rushing water” in Maori, and it’s appropriately named. We were divided into groups of 12, and led in a crouch through a meter-high opening into the cave. A wildly rushing stream of waterfalls , rapids and whirlpools ran next to us, but we moved through the cave safely on a metal platform path with handrails (needed, as it was very dark in the cave). No talking is allowed, as noise can stress the glowworms and cause them to dim their lights. No lights, so smart watches have to be covered and cell phones turned off. We boarded a small metal boat, six to a side, sitting back-to-back in total darkness. Our guide propelled us through the cave by pulling a chain above the boat, while hundreds of glow worms shown on the ceiling and underside of ledges. We hadn’t known what to expect, but it was quite the experience. My mother, a cave junkie, would have loved it.
Looking west on Lake Te Anau.
The Dr. Seuss-like takahē that lived in this area was believed to be extinct, after the last 4 known specimens were taken from Fiordland in the second half of the 19th century. Then in 1948, they were rediscovered by a doctor exploring in the region. This colorful, flightless bird is about the size of a Costco chicken, weighing in at up to 6.5 lbs. They use their wings only for courtship displays or to show aggression.
The takahē population is slowly recovering, breeding both in the wild and in captivity for eventual release. Their population is up to around 500.
Fun fact: they need to eat all day to get enough nourishment, and accordingly, eliminate on a prolific scale. They produce between 20-26 feet daily of grassy, cigar-shaped poop. (I would think this fact alone might have made them question to original extinction theory.)
New Zealand is home to many species of flightless birds. The only native mammals here before humans arrived were marine mammals like seals, and two species of bats. There were no natural enemies for the birds. The arrival of stoats, rats, ferrets, cats, possums, etc were devastating to the avian population. We’ve seen stoat traps on farms and hiking trails; there is a determined effort to eradicate all these foreign mammals from NZ. It’s met with some success. Possums will be gone by the end of the year from the peninsula we visited yesterday. Some of islands in this area have successfully removed all of the predators and the bird populations there are recovering.
Day 2 - Doubtful Sound - which is technically a fjord (a glacier valley) not a sound (river valley), is NZ’s deepest.
To get to Doubtful Sound, we took a 20 minutes bus ride from Te Anau to Manapouri’s Pearl Harbour. Next was a 22 mile boat ride across Lake Manpouri, followed by an 13 mile bus ride along an unpaved road across Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound. With the exception of the crew who built the road, the area between Lake Manapouri and Doubtful Sound is untouched. There are no homes, no other roads, no development. It’s pristine, impressive and lovely.
Our route today - the black line.
On Lake Manapouri
The one-lane road was built between 1961-1963 to carry heavy machinery from Doubtful Sound to the construction site for a power plant on Lake Manapouri. Today, it’s used for traffic to and from Doubtful Sound. The vehicles and fuel for them are brought by barge to the dock from which we departed. The road is in good shape, but a little unnerving with 20% grades and no shoulders.
Doubtful Sound from the top of Wilmot Pass
About 2+ hours after we left Te Anau, we boarded another boat at the Sound for a three hour cruise. We traveled almost 30 miles out into the Pacific Ocean. The steep sides of the cliffs average nearly 4,000 high.
Trees cling improbably on the steep cliffs. When the heavy rains fall - sometimes 20 inches in a day - most of it is absorbed by the trees and moss.
And finally, out in the Pacific!
And then the whole trip was reversed.
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