Fiordland National Park

Localization

Southwest corner of the South Island.

Access

Quite easy, most of the park is not accessible by the road. Te Anau is considered the ‘gateway to Fiordland’ and can be reached by SH6 and SH94 from Queenstown or SH1 and SH94 from Invercargill.

Characteristic

12 519 km²; Mountainous region (several peaks over 2000 meters) with fourteen deep fiords, some stretching up to 40 kilometres inland. Deep valleys with very steep slopes were formed by glacial activities. Two large uninhabited offshore islands are included into the park area. Many waterfalls can be found in this national park - some of them are among the world's highest ones. Very high rainfall amounts. Rain draining through the bush into the fiords becomes stained with tannins. This forms a dark brown layer that doesn't mix with the sea water. Because of the colour, light doesn't reach down to the depths, and most of the marine life exists in this band of fresh water. Species that would normally live at great depths are found much closer to the surface, giving divers the opportunity to see rare species and beautiful black corals.Typical ecosystems: mountain and alpine ecosystems, lush temperate zone forests, freshwater ecosystems (rivers and many glacial lakes), marine and coastal ecosystems.

Fauna + Flora

Species List - See the Attachment Below

Possible activities

Very attractive region for walking tourism and trekking - lots of beautiful trekking paths (even several days).

Mountaineering, mountain bikes, horseback riding, scenic flights, fishing, sea kayak, diving, undersea observatory in depth of 10.5 m under water surface

Note

The largest national park in New Zealand

Because of its extraordinary landscape beauties Fiordland has been placed into the List of World Nature Heritage of UNESCO

Be aware of severe weather changes and floods, sandflies are very common - don´t forget reppelent

Remote and isolated park.

Best time to visit IX-XI and II-III (too crowded in XII and I)