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I RELAXED on the shores of Lake Te Anau, considered to be the gateway to Fiordland National Park. Doing final preparations for the Milford Track starting two days' time.
With everything ready, and the Te Anau foreshore explored in the morning, I headed to the nearby Te Anau Bird Santuary in time for the afternoon feeding and tour of the rare birds. I followed this by continuing to walk along a track above the shore to the gates controlling the flow of water from the lake down the Waiau River into Lake Manapouri.
At the bird sanctuary I spent some time with the rare takahe, a flightless bird uniquely evolved from the Pukeko (the Australian swamp hen) which had self-introduced to New Zealand long before the arrival of the Maori. This breakaway group evolved into much larger birds adapting to the swampy alpine tarns hidden away high up in the surrounding mountains. Now very rare, these birds are reared here in the hope of restoring the natural populations. Here the mother feeds a nearly fully grown chick.
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