Fiordland

The Walks Are the Real Deal Here

The Milford Road corridor has some of the best day walks in the country. My picks are Lake Marian and Key Summit - both are 10 out of 10 stuff. Lake Marian is a hanging lake with a decent uphill push but nothing savage, and Key Summit is part of the Routeburn Track so you're on good trail the whole way. If you're fit and experienced and happy walking on unmarked terrain, Gertrude Saddle is there too, but go in knowing it's steep, rocky, and has no full markers - it's a route, not a track.

For the Less Vertical Among Us

Not every walk here needs to be a mission. Lake Gunn is a flat 45-minute loop through beautiful rainforest right next to Cascade Creek campsite - it barely gets bus traffic, which is a bonus. Mirror Lakes is a quick roadside stop, fine if you time it outside the bus windows. There's also The Chasm, though part of it is officially closed - the unofficial route off the track is genuinely cool on a clear day, but it's slippery and on you entirely.

In Te Anau itself, the lakeside walk out to the free bird sanctuary is a nice easy leg-stretch. The Takahe living there are worth a look - big, prehistoric-looking birds that were thought to be extinct until last century. Good way to fill an evening before an early start up the road.