16 Jan 2011 – Te Anau

This morning we awoke to the sky as forecasted – looking like rain.  We were glad that we had not planned to hike up Gertrude Saddle today but instead would go and explore the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves.  To get to the caves we had to take a boat ride across Lake Te Anau which I learned about from Wikipedia.

Lake Te Anau is in the south western corner of the South Island of New Zealand. Its name was originally Te Ana-au, Maori for 'The cave of swirling water. The lake covers an area of 344 km, making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupo) and the largest in the South Island. Lake Te Anau is however the largest lake in Australasia by fresh water volume.

The main body of the lake runs north-south, and is 65 km in length. Three large fiords form arms to the lake on its western flank: North Fiord, Middle Fiord and South Fiord. These are the only inland Fiords that New Zealand has, the other 14 are out on the coast. Several small islands lie in the entrance to Middle Fiord, which forks partway along its length into northwest and southwest arms. The lake lies at an altitude of 210 m, and since its maximum depth is 417 m much of its bed lies below sea level.

Most of the lake is within Fiordland National Park and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Other than the Te Anau township, the only human habitation close to the lake is the farming settlement of Te Anau Downs, close to the mouth of the Eglinton River. Between these two settlements the land is rolling hill country, but elsewhere the land is mountainous, especially along its western shore, where the Kepler and Murchison Mountains rise 1,400 m above the surface of the lake.

Ok before I talk about the Cave adventure I should step back to talk about the rest of the day up to the time we went on the Cave tour.

In the morning we had no plans so we decided to take it easy and read our books.  I needed to get my blog posted for the day before so we drove into town to our parking of Mitre 10 where we can get cell service.  Wes read and I posted.  The next exciting thing we did was go for lunch (man the New Zealand pies are something to enjoy!)

We returned to the campsite and relaxed until it was time to go to the cavern tour.  Now are you not glad I took time out to step back and enlighten you on what happened before the cave tour?

We had to get to the Real Journey’s office in time to board the boat for our 3:15 departure.  The boat, which is large, was almost full to capacity and I think this was their 2 or 3 sailing today.  Obviously this is a very popular tour.  We headed out onto the lake and this was when I really appreciated how large it was and beautiful the mountains are surrounding the lake.  We even took a side tour to sail between two islands and into middle fiord (arm to us) to see how spectacular and large it was.  The fiord leads to what is referred to as the ‘hidden’ lakes because there are several lakes up the fiord which are not visible unless you explore.

After disembarking on the western shores, there is time to view the informative displays at Cavern House before your friendly nature guide accompanies you into the caves in a small group (maximum 14 per group).   We were not permitted to take any pictures inside the cave to protect the glow worms.  Although the waterfalls and whirlpools would make spectacular pictures I was not able to take any to share but was able to find a few on the internet to use.

The tunnel burn (stream) flowing through Te Anau Glowworm Caves orginates at Lake Orbell in the Murchison Mountains.  The actual Te Anau Glowworm caves are the lower part of the much larger Auroro Caves system.  This system actually involves 4 levels of interconnecting passages.  The Auroro Caves system, carved in limestone by water erosion and chemical reaction, is dated at 30-35 million years old.  The Te Anau Glowworm Caves are much younger section of this system at about 12,000 years old.

This underground world is astonishingly beautiful. By geological standards the caves are very young and are still being carved out by the force of the river that flows through them. The result is a twisting network of limestone passages filled with sculpted rock, whirlpools and a roaring underground waterfall.  Getting into the cave was interesting since the cave opening is very low and we all had to watch our head and bend over to access the entrance.  It was like watching ducks waddle as we move into the caves.

Deep inside the caves, beyond the roar of the water, you will be taken by small boat into a silent hidden grotto inhabited by thousands of glowworms.  In the subterranean darkness, they produce a glittering display that is nothing short of extraordinary.

After we finished the underground tour and small boat ride (the boat is floated on the cavern ‘river’ and our guide stands and pulls us along using a rope that is attached to the ceiling.  There is no motor or paddles used.)  We returned to the surface and had a chance to take a short nature walk around the area.  We followed that by going into the information center and listening to information about the life cycle of the glow worms and learned about the Takahe bird which is almost extinct.  In fact it was thought this bird was extinct until a small group of them were discovered in this area high in the mountains in 1948.  Since then they have been protected and nurtured to the point there are about 200 birds known to exist.   We also learned that the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary had a couple as well as other native birds.   

We also learned that to supply electricity they have taken advantage of the rainfall and water volume to set up a hydro-electric plant.

So when we returned to town we immediately enquired about where to find the bird sanctuary and went to explore.   As well as the Takahe we also had a chance to view: Kea, a Red Crowned Parakeet, a New Zealand Wood Pigeon, a South Island Kaka, Antipodes Island Parakeet, and several different types of ducks.  Of course there were sheep there as well, but we decided they were the automated lawn mowers.  Unfortunately the wire they used for the cages made taking pictures very difficult, but if you want to see better pictures than I have here, please feel free to google them. 

We returned to our campsite feeling that we had a full day after all even if the morning was totally relaxing and non-adventurous.  Tomorrow we tackle Gertrude Saddle if the weather is favourable.