Fiordland: How You Can Experience New Zealand’s Forbidden Paradise

There is a part of New Zealand so remote that humans have never touched the vast majority of its vast landscape. There you will find some of our most beautiful mountains, icebergs settled in emerald lakes and bushes that have only been trodden by moa and takahē.

This land I’m talking about is Fiordland; New Zealand’s forbidden paradise. It is forbidden simply because Mother Nature has created formidable obstacles. Most of the remote landscape has been carved out by glaciers over millions of years, and its beauty is only matched by its inaccessibility.

However, there are a couple of ways to penetrate Fiordland Fortress and experience the best scenery New Zealand has to offer. This is how one of the last frontiers of the country is explored.

The forgotten fjord

While Milford Sound is known as the eighth wonder of the world, there is another fjord of possibly greater beauty, but it is much more difficult to find.

Doubtful Sound is bigger than Milford, and the magnificent mountains that shoot out of the sea into the clouds have an unearthly presence as you glide silently through misty canals.

READ MORE:
* Why all Kiwis should visit Fiordland National Park
* World famous in New Zealand: Fiordland’s Milford Track
* The scenic sounds of Fiordland have a lot to offer

The fjord was named Patea by the early Maori, which means “place of silence”. And it’s so remarkably intact that you’ll be witnessing the same landscape that greeted Captain Cook in 1770. Aside from a pier and a small village that services ships, the landscape in all directions is completely intact, having been sitting for millennia. .

The old saying that “with effort comes rewards” is particularly true with Doubtful Sound; getting there is quite an adventure. You’ll first board a ferry across Lake Manapōuri, the second deepest lake in the country. When you are surrounded by mountains, it is difficult to imagine that the bottom of the lake is so deep that it is below sea level.

The lake cruise allows you to glimpse 33 small islands, framed against the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps. At the end of the trip, you will pass the Manapōuri Power Station, which for decades has provided power to the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter in Bluff.

From there, you hop on a bus to pass through the Southern Alps on a private road, with the journey winding through primitive peaks and massive waterfalls. Then you emerge in the serene Doubtful Sound; many days you will find him shrouded in a mist of bad humor.

The full return trip takes seven hours, and you’ll drift away feeling like you’ve briefly traveled to another world.

The highway to heaven

While I highly recommend a trip to Doubtful Sound, can you really say you’re a Kiwi if you haven’t been to Milford Sound?

Before Covid-19, more than a million people were expected to experience Milford Sound in 2020, and we only have a limited time before the borders reopen and the usual hordes of international tourists return.

Half the magnificence of Milford is experienced even before you get there; the two-hour drive from Te Anau is the most scenic highway in the country. There are many hidden gems to discover along the way, such as the Lake Marian Track, which passes through a thunderous waterfall and finally reaches a picturesque alpine lake hidden in a hanging valley. There’s also the popular Key Summit Track, which just reopened after flood damage forced its closure in February. This 2-3 hour return hike spans part of the Routeburn Track and offers stunning views of the ice-carved valleys below.

My favorite part of the trip is getting to Homer’s Tunnel, which disappears down the side of the sheer rock face. On the other side, you come to a winding valley of waterfalls (and if it’s been raining) it feels like you’re driving through a snow-covered lunar landscape, water gushing out in all directions.

Best New Zealand Helicopter Tour

Flying in a helicopter is a once in a lifetime experience for most of us; so if you want to choose just one trip trust me this is the place.

The only way to truly appreciate the magnitude of Fiordland is by air, and the 1 hour 45 minute Dusky Doubtful flight takes you above ground that most Kiwis will never see. We started zigzagging across Lake Manapouri, around the mountain peaks, and landed at Mt Pender, where we could get out of the helicopter and marvel at Dusky Sound below, stretching all the way to the west coast with over 350 islands.

We then took off and descended deep into a maze of ice-formed valleys, passing roaring waterfalls and flying through the narrow Campbell Kingdom, a narrow hanging valley with a lake that looks like something out of the scene of an adventure helicopter from a Mission Impossible movie.

After another 30 minutes of spectacular flight, giving us an up-close view of the most remote parts of Fiordland, we reached Mt Kidd, where we were once again able to get out of the helicopter to look at an iceberg-filled lake hidden at the top. of a mountain.

From there it was back to Te Anau, after possibly the best two hours you can spend in Aotearoa. If you’re saving for a helicopter ride to beat everyone else, this is it.

A taste of paradise

If you prefer your adventures on land, a great way to see the region is with the Fiordland Jet. Your signature “Pure Wilderness” journey takes you down the trout-filled Waiau River, bordered by a Jurassic forest.

The landscape is so deep that the river appeared in the opening aerial shot of The Fellowship of the Ring like the Anduin river; the fictional waterway runs through most of Middle-earth.

We continue downstream with 360 degree turns, and also trout sighted in small emerald eddies, before finally entering Lake Manapouri, in crystal clear calm, sparkling with the reflection of the Southern Alps.

We then head to a secluded sandy beach and hike a small part of the Kepler trail that passes through an intact beech forest.

If you want to take your adventure to the next level, you can bike back to Te Anau on the Lake2Lake cycle route.

A trip to Fiordland’s secret lake

This off the beaten path adventure takes you to the oldest cabin in Fiordland National Park, exploring a remote part of the region that many locals don’t even know exists. The easiest way to get there is through a specialized tour that includes two boat trips. The alternative is a fairly long one-way hike of three to four days.

Fiordland Outdoors organizes the boat trip, which begins with a 40-minute scenic cruise on Lake Te Anau, the largest lake on the South Island. From there, you will be taken down a secret track through the bush to reveal Hankinson Lake, surrounded by lush beech forest and towering mountains. Here, with the flick of a switch, a boat is lowered from a hidden shed, which you will board and use to cross the idyllic lake, catching trout on the journey.

Once you reach the top of the lake, it’s another short walk to Hankinson Hut, the oldest remaining in the national park.

Here, you can have a picnic lunch to the sound of silence, knowing that you are currently one of the most remote humans in New Zealand.

Get there: Te Anau is a 2-hour drive from Queenstown or a 2.5-hour drive from Invercargill.

Desert cruises with dubious sound with Real Journeys they are from $ 179 per person. They are also operating a “free kids” special from January 11 to February 5, 2021. See: realjourneys.co.nz

the Dark Doubtful Helicopter The trip costs $ 845 per person (if you use the 15% discount on the KIWITRAVEL code when booking directly). See: southernlakeshelicopters.co.nz

the Pure desert The Fiordland Jet trip costs $ 159 per adult or $ 79 per child. See: fjet.co.nz

Full day Hidden Hankinson the trip costs $ 245 per person. See: fiordlandoutdoors.co.nz

Where to stay: Basing in Te Anau is the best option for exploring the region. Dunluce Bed and Breakfast is a luxury boutique option starting at $ 266.50 per night per couple. See: dunluce-fiordland.co.nz

The author’s trip was supported by Destination Fiordland.

Brook Sabin and Radha Engling travel the length of New Zealand on a Stuff Travel country road trip in a new Hyundai Kona Electric. The vehicle has 449 km of range in the real world on a single charge; for more information see: hyundai.co.nz/Kona-electric. This story was produced as part of an editorial partnership with Tourism New Zealand. Read more about the content of our association here.