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Southland
Doubtful Sounds, Manapouri,
Milford Sound and Te Anau
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Above picture:
Mist covered Mitre Peak in the Milford Sounds |
- The magical scenery of this area can leave
you breathless. Take the time to stop and enjoy its rugged
beauty. The nearest major city to this area is
Invercargill
which provides regular flights and car hire should you wish to
tour this area.
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Te Anau
Things to do
with children in Te Anau |
Parks and walks in Te Anau |
Accommodation
- Te Anau is a holiday destination
in Fiordland. Fiordland is located on the south- west coast of the South Island. It is only
a two hour (177km) drive from
Queenstown.
Parks and walks
The main reserves in the area are:
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Te Anau Domain No. 2
is
off Luxmore Drive and
Manapouri Te Anau Highway.
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Virginia from Te Anau has some great ideas for free things to do
in while visiting her town.
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Take a walk along the Kepler Track from Rainbow Reach to
Moturau Hut. It is about an hour and a half and good walking.
You can actually get a buggy a good part of the way. All of the
way if there are two of you to carry it over a couple of narrow
walkways and tree roots. To do the whole track, 60km, will take
you around three to four days to do and is classified as an easy
tramp.
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Days
walks include walking to Dock Bay from the Control Gates
– there are also other bays around where you can stop and have a
picnic. Remember to take the insect repellent though.
Dock Bay is suitable for swimming and has toilet and
barbecue facilities.
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At
Te Anau Downs on the way to Milford is a walk around Lake
Mistletoe. This is great for kids even wee kids. Really easy
walk to view a nice small lake. Walk through trees and also
through the open. Great place for a picnic.
Things to do with
children at Te Anau
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Glow Worm Caves
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- Te
Anau glow worm-caves. Tours are great, however children who are
afraid of the dark may find the glow worm cave a bit scary. (
www.realjourneys.co.nz
Ph: 0800 656 501)
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Mini golf
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- Mini golf - 18 holes of
golf
on the mini golf course, or
hire bikes (including tandems)
and bike around the town. (7 Mokonui St, Te Anau. Ph: 03 249 7211)
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Farm and Wildlife Park
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- Waiau
Downs Farm Adventures (
www.farmadventures.co.nz
Te Tua, RD 1, Riverton. Ph: 0508 226 663)
- Te Anau Wildlife Park,
Conservation Centre, Lake Front, Te Anau.
Cinema
Fiordland Cinemas (
www.fiordlandcinema.co.nz
7 The Lane, Te Anau. Ph: 03 249 8844)
Paintball
High Ride Paintball
www.highride.co.nz 865
Wilderness Road, Te Anau. Ph: 03 249 8591)
Tours
Wilderness Safaris
www.wildernesssafaris.co.nz Ph: 0508 723 274 4WD adventures
Fiordland Cruises www.doubtfulsound.com
77 Manapouri - Te Anau Highway Ph: 03 249 777 or 0800 483 262
Horse Riding
High Ride
Horse Rides
www.highride.co.nz 865 Wilderness
Road, Te Anau. Ph: 03 249 8591- Suitable for
children 10 years and over or from 8 years if children have pony
club experience.
Family accommodation
at Te Anau
Looking for
accommodation in Te Anau? Then
click here to see the family-friendly
accommodation listed for Te Anau in our
accommodation section of Kids Friendly NZ.
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Manapouri
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Manapouri is about a 20 minute drive from
Te Anau and
here you can visit Manapouri Power Station. You will need to
contact the local Information Centre for details on arranging tours to
the station. Tours are available
to take you on Lake Manapouri and then travel by coach down the spiral
tunnel to the power stations machine hall in the heart of a mountain.
Did I mention it was 2kms down?
Take a walk gentle along the waterfront of Lake
Manapouri starting off at the southern end of Cathedral Drive with the
kids and take in the wonderful view of this lake.
Luxmore Jet (
www.luxmorejet.co.nz 5
Muriwai Drive, Manapouri. Ph: 0800 253 826 or 03 249 6951) - Will
take children under five years of age.
Wilderness Safaris
(www.wildernesssafaris.co.nz,
Ph: 0508 723 274) is very family-friendly and provide 4WD
adventures, both half and full day trips, around Te Anau, Manapouri
and Queenstown.
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Milford Sound
Things to
do with your family at Milford Sounds
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Back to the underwater theme a visit
to Milford Sound's Underwater Observatory is well worth a visit. Milford
Sound
is 119kms north of
Te Anau and is on tar-sealed road. The
road can get quite windy and if you are unlucky to get fine weather
on your trip down to the sounds, you won't be totally disappointed.
On a resent trip done by the Kids Friendly New Zealand team our
young travellers gave up counting the number of waterfalls on the way
to the Sounds after they reach 500!
Although the trip from Te Anau to Milford Sounds is only two
hours, take your time to view some of the sights along the way.
Some 51km along from Te Anau is McKay Creek which looks over
Eglinton Valley. A little further on, seven kilometers in fact, are
the Mirror Lakes. On a fine day stop off here and take a photo of
the reflections in the lakes.
Toilets and water can be found at Knobs Flat some 63km from Te
Anau.
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Above picture: Lake
Gunn is located around 80 km from Te Anau and is just a
short distance from Cascade Creek. There is also a 45 minute
walk here and is suitable for children and pushchairs. |
- With many scenic
things to see on your journey get the children to count how long it
takes to get through the Homer Tunnel, which is the gateway to Milford
Sounds. The Homer Tunnel is over 9 km long and drops 700 metres over
this distance. For those with a camera it is worth pulling over
and taking a photo of the Kea, New Zealand's native parrots, that
hang around the Tunnel. But please don't feed them as this effects
their natural diet.
If you are lucky enough to get fine
weather and take a tour on Milford Sound, you will see the
spectacular Mitre Peak which stands at 1683m high. On a fine day
waterfalls are to the minimum, however on wet days and trust us here
because this region gets around six metres of rainfall each year,
you will see hundreds of them! But within two hours of the rain
stopping, so do a majority of the waterfalls.
Things to do
with children at Milford Sounds
Tours
- Real Journeys (
www.realjourneys.co.nz
PH: 0800 656 501)
- Milford Sound Red Boat Cruises (
www.readboats.co.nz Ph:
0800 264 536)
Underwater
Observatory
Milford Sounds Underwater Observatory
( www.milforddeep.co.nz
Ph: 0800 326 969)
Warning:
Sandflies seem to swarm around this area and we recommend that you
protect yourself and your children prior to getting out at the car
park.
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Milford Track
- The Milford Track
is a 53.5km walk and must be done over a four-day itinerary. You can
either walk the track independently or with a tour. You must book to
do the track and you will need a Great Walks pass which will allow
you to stay in the huts.
Hollyford Track
This track is suitable only for
experienced trampers and is 56km, four days, one way!
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Doubtful
Sounds
Things to do with children at Doubtful Sounds
- When visiting
Fiordland, most visitors will take the journey to visit the well
known Milford Sounds, however the Doubtful Sounds are equally
magical and if you have enough time do add these to your list of
things to do. Access to the sounds requires
boat and bus travel, you will need to contact the closes Information Centre
for further details on the tour operators who can take you to the
Sounds.
Like its sister sound, Doubtful
Sounds gets a lot of rainfall, around six metres every year! But
weather permitting, don't forget to take your camera. You will past
the stunning Helena Falls on your boat journey and make sure you get the children to look out for some of the regions
wildlife, such as seals and the bottlenose and dusky dolphins which
will be enjoying the beauty of the sounds with you.
Things to do with children at Doubtful Sounds
Boat Cruises and
Kayaking
Fiordland Expeditions
(www.fiordlandexpeditions.co.nz,
43 Luxmore Drive, Te Anau. Ph: 0508 888 656 or 03 249 9005)
provide overnight cruises on Doubtful Sound or extended (multiday
charter options). In addition you can use the boats kayaks, once
at the mooring in the evening. It is recommended that your
family does have some previous experience with kayaks although
not essential. Another option, and one only open to experienced
divers, is bringing your own personal dive gear (we provide
tanks & weightbelts) along with you and visit one of Jacques
Cousteau’s ten top diving sites.
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