Milford Sound is one of the most iconic places in New Zealand known for its Mitre Peak, lush rainforests, and waterfalls that drop down sheer cliffs. It is located in the rugged southwest corner of the country in Fiordland National Park, the largest of all New Zealand’s national parks. Fiordland National Park is so remote that a significant portion remains unexplored by humans today. In fact, as recently as 1948 people rediscovered the Takahe bird there, which had been believed to have been extinct for nearly 50 years. Although Milford Sound is a top destination for visitors, many only visit for a midday boat trip, because it is located about 4 hours by car from Queenstown. If you only have 1 day to visit, it is still better than none, but extending your trip to hike on amazing trails, including 3 of New Zealand’s 11 Great Walks, is well worth the additional time.
Destination Overview
Dunedin to Te Anau Road Trip
After enjoying our extended road trip from Christchurch to Dunedin, we decided to do the same for our travels to the town of Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park. While the direct route is a little over 5 hours driving, we determined a full day trip through The Catlins would be a nice bonus to our time in southeastern New Zealand. The detour was well worth it as the scenic coastal landscape and rainforests were totally different from the start of our trip in the Southern Alps. We visited serene waterfalls, hiked to an incredible light house, spotted dolphins, and walked to the southern most point of New Zealand. After a long day of exploring, we stayed overnight in Invercargill, New Zealand’s southernmost city, so that we could arrive early the next morning in Fiordland National Park.
Invercargill is only about a 2 hour drive from Te Anau, which meant we could depart after sunrise and still arrive to take the first boat across Lake Te Anau. This boat enabled us to do a day hike on the Kepler Track to the Luxmore Hut and was the start to our long weekend of hiking in Fiordland National Park. The first day’s weather was a clear sky and sunny, which had even the locals excited for the weekend. After a tough but rewarding first hike, we were even able to cool off in Lake Te Anau which was cold but refreshing. Within the first day we were glad to have booked the weekend in Te Anau and looked forward to our other hikes, as well as a Milford Sound boat ride ahead.
Where to Read More
The Best Way to Spend 3+ Days in Fiordland National Park and Te Anau
An itinerary to best explore Fiordland National Park from Te Anau and why the national park is worth more than a quick day trip from Queenstown.
The Best Thing I Ate
Lamb Shank at Red Cliff Restaurant
New Zealand lamb is known world wide for its high quality, which many attribute to the focus on free range, grass fed, and humane practices that Kiwi farmers utilize for raising their sheep. Having tried imported New Zealand lamb before, I was excited to eat it during my visit when the right opportunity came up. After a long, nearly 10 mile (16 km) hike on one of New Zealand’s Great Walks (the Kepler Track) we had worked up a pretty big appetite for dinner. On our boat ride back to Te Anau, one of the local Kiwi’s recommended The Fat Duck for happy hour and Red Cliff Restaurant for the best locally sourced dinner. We had a little time before the end of happy hour at The Fat Duck so joined a Kiwi expat we met on the trail for a drink and conversation about his life since migrating to Australia. We learned it is very common for Kiwis to move to Australia, with nearly 600,000 Kiwis believed to be working in Australia, which is a substantial amount for a country with only 5 million people.
After a refreshing happy hour, we walked over to Red Cliff Restaurant and there appeared to only be overflow seating available on the patio. Since the patio had an abbreviated bar menu we were going to come back on a different day, but the manager offered us a table if we did not stay too late. It was a perfect situation as we were exhausted from the hike and eager to try the local specialties from the region. The menu looked great and they happened to have a lamb shank special that was dropped off by a local farmer for the weekend. We started with a goat cheese profiteroles and then ordered a Fiordland wild venison osso bucco and the special lamb shank. While the profiteroles and osso bucco were good, the lamb shank was the star. It was served bone-in on top of potatoes and vegetables, and complemented with an amazing red sauce. The lamb exceeded the high expectations I had, and dinner at Red Cliff was an awesome introduction to eating New Zealand cuisine.
Travel Tip of the Week
Stay in Te Anau in Fiordland National Park to do Great Walk Day Hikes
There are now 11 (formerly 10) Great Walks of New Zealand, which offer access to some of the country’s most incredible natural landscapes. These walks are all multi-day hikes with top quality hut infrastructure that attract hikers from all over the world. Given the Great Walk popularity, it is very difficult to secure reservations to complete the entire journey during the peak season summer months. However, many of the walks are accessible as day hikes that give an introduction to the amazing nature for those short on time or unable to secure a reservation.
One of the great parts of staying in Te Anau is that you are in Fiordland National Park. This means that you can do parts of 3 Great Walks (the Kepler Track, Routeburn Track, and Milford Track) all in the same weekend. While it is going to result in a lot of miles (and even more kilometers) covered, it is an incredible way to take in the diversity of Fiordland National Park. On our first day we utilized the boat system from Te Anau to Brod Bay so that we could hike up through the rainforest (similar to a nearby filming location of Fangorn Forest in the Lord of the Rings) to the Luxmore Hut for incredible views overlooking Lake Te Anau below. We even had our first encounter with a pesky Kea, an alpine parrot, that was in search of our lunch.
On the second day we drove into the national park to the trail head of The Routeburn Track. We only were on the trail for a short time before we branched off to climb to the Key Summit. When we started the hike we were surrounded by clouds of mist which eventually dissipated below us once we reached the summit, resulting in perfect visibility of the national park in all directions. We could even see Lake Marian in the distance which we had been highly recommended to visit. Since the start of the day wasn’t too challenging, we decided to add this hike on. It certainly ended up being the most strenuous and technical of the hikes so far, but upon reaching the top of the trail, the view of Lake Marian surrounded by mountains with snow was unforgettable. Some locals were swimming in the glacier fed lake and encouraged us to join in. Going in the cold water felt amazing after a tough climb.
By the final day of our stay we were pretty sore and second guessing if we should have booked a boat to Sand Fly point to do a morning hike on the Milford Track. The trail seemed relatively flat so we continued with the initial plan of going for a hike in the morning before the final boat of Milford Sound later in the day. It was a nice walk from Sandfly Point to Giant Gate Falls which was a picturesque place to have lunch. A local said it was possible to swim in the falls but in the morning it was still in the shade and the stream itself was so cold that it made your feet go numb.
After walking back to the boat pickup point, the sun was fully out and we were told it was rare to be this nice so we should take advantage of swimming in the fjord. The water temperature was great with the hot sun and the water was so clear that you could see the mix of ocean with river. While this part of the Milford Track was not as impressive as the other hikes, it made for an excellent morning before the cruise main event later in the day.
Fortunately the weather stayed nice throughout the rest of the day and our cruise of Milford Sound with Mitre Peak Cruises did not disappoint. We went all the way through the fiord to the open ocean where we were told heading west the next land you will hit is Argentina. It put into perspective how far south we were and the remoteness of New Zealand. The rest of the cruise was incredible: getting close to the sea lions, nearly going under a waterfall, and taking in the impressive steep rock cliffs. When the cruise ended around 6:00pm, we were some of the last people there and could enjoy Mitre Peak with no one around. Since we were staying in Te Anau we were able to arrive in time to watch the sunset on Lake Te Anau and conclude an incredible weekend in Fiordland National Park.
