Te Anau - Back In Love With New Zealand

Leaving Queenstown behind, I was making my way to Te Anau, which is the gateway to New Zealand's amazing Fjordland. On the way there, I did a cheeky detour to the Mavora Lakes to check out some distinct movie locations that were heavily featured in Lord of The Rings.

The way to the Lakes included >30km of gravel road, which was quite fun to drive on with my little Toyota rental car. Even if someone has no interest in the movies whatsoever, the movie locations have stunning surroundings that are worth exploring.

Anyways, in Te Anau I quickly made a plan for the next day to drive to New Zealand's most famous natural sight - Milford Sound. It would be the last destination of the day trip, as it is where the road through the Fjordland ends. On the way, though, there is plenty of stuff to see.

I started off with a quick pit stop at the Mirror Lakes that displayed a perfectly mirrored mountain range on a lake's calm surface. The next stop was Eglinton Valley, of which I have a picture and memories from 13 years ago, so, of course, I tried to take the same picture.
Except this time, I had blue skies. Afterwards, it was off to do a little hike up Key Summit, which took a total of about 3-4h return, including plenty of time for lunch and some photos. It was an easy track with views of the Southern Alps that were absolutely gorgeous, once l was out of the forest bit (i hate walking in the forest... no views, cold, no sun, pointless).

The next stop brought me to the Marian Lake waterfalls, which had incredibly blue water and had multiple shallow levels. Following from that, a couple of short stops at viewpoints and driving through the Homer Tunnel, I arrived at Milford Sound. I did not do a cruise this time (did a overnight cruise the last time I was here), but instead walked along the shores. Seeing Milford Sound filled me with happiness and nostalgia and I took my time to just sit on a bench, had a chocolate bar and enjoyed the view.

Right there, I swore to myself that I will come back to this place some day and that promise almost gave me teary eyes.

The next day, I just explored the little town of Te Anau, and spend the afternoon chilling out and planning the next steps of my trip as it was raining and quite windy.

Then it was already time to say goodbye and drive to Wanaka. However, before I made that journey, I hiked one last time in the Fjordlands - this time, up to Lake Marian (the place I saw the waterfalls two days prior). The views once I arrived at the lake (2h40m up) were absolutely gorgeous as the lake was nestled right underneath snow-capped mountains. Again, blue skies and calm water allowed for a perfect mirror image.

It truly was the perfect end to my time in Flordland and at this stage, I fell in love with this country again. The notion of the 'disappointments' about the value-for-money aspect was replaced by the sheer joy of seeing the country's natural beauty. New Zealand really does have breath-taking scenery and a magic touch that I will always admire!Läs mer