Introduction
The tiny settlement of Te Anau, home to just 3,500 people on the eastern shores of Lake Te Anau, is the gateway to the surrounding Fiordland National Park.
Te Anau is quiet in the winter - the kind of place where the Sunday papers arrive on Monday - but bustles with hikers and sightseers in the summer.
Many come to explore the lake, which is the South Island's largest, stretching 61 kilometres from head to toe. For others, the town is their starting point on the Milford Road, a stunning 119-kilometre drive into the heart of Fiordland and Milford Sound.
