Fiordland

thumb|upright=1.3|Fiordland's landscape is characterised by deep fiords along the coast...

thumb|upright=1.3|...and U-shaped valleys carved by glaciers.

thumb|Topographical map of Fiordland

Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands") is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, and its steep, glacier-carved and now ocean-flooded western valleys. The name "Fiordland" derives from the New Zealand English spelling of the Scandinavian word for steep glacial valleys, "fjord". The geographic area of Fiordland is dominated by, and roughly coterminous with, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest national park.

Due to the often steep terrain and high amount of rainfall supporting dense vegetation, the interior of the Fiordland region is largely inaccessible. As a result, Fiordland was never subjected to notable logging operations, and even attempts at whaling, seal hunting, and mining were on a small scale and short-lived, partly also because of the challenging weather. Today, Fiordland contains by far the greatest extent of unmodified vegetation in New Zealand and significant populations of endemic plants and threatened animals, in some cases the only remaining wild populations.

Fiordland features a number of fiords, which in this area are typically named sounds, reflecting the fact that sometimes fiords are considered to be a type of narrow sound. Of the twelve major fiords on Fiordland's west coast, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is the most famous and the only one accessible by road. Doubtful Sound / Patea, which is much larger, is also a tourist destination, but is less accessible as it requires both a boat trip over Lake Manapouri and bus transfer over Wilmot Pass.

Also situated within Fiordland are Browne Falls and Sutherland Falls, which rank among the tallest waterfalls in the world, and New Zealand's three deepest lakes, Lake Hauroko, Lake Manapouri, and Lake Te Anau. Several other large lakes lie nearby, and Fiordland and the surrounding parts of Southland and Otago Regions are often referred to as the Southern Lakes. Only a handful of Fiordland's lakes are accessible by road – Lake Poteriteri is the largest lake in New Zealand with no road access. Many of the region's lakes are not even accessible via tramping tracks.

This part of New Zealand, especially to the west of the mountain divide of the Southern Alps, has a very wet climate with annual average of 200 rainy days and annual rainfall varying from in Te Anau to in Milford Sound. The prevailing westerly winds blow moist air from the Tasman Sea onto the mountains, resulting in high amounts of precipitation as the air rises and cools down.

History

Fiordland has never had any significant permanent population. Māori knew the area well but only visited seasonally, for hunting, fishing and to collect the precious stone pounamu (New Zealand jade) from Anita Bay at the mouth of Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. In Māori mythology, Fiordland is described as being created by the demigod Tū-te-raki-whānoa, who carved the fiords from rock using his adze. As he moved northwards, he perfected his techniques, and considered the last fiord, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, his greatest achievement. Over time, the name grew to refer to the wider Fiordland area.

Between 1897 and 1908, two attempts at establishing a mining operation in the remote area of Rakituma / Preservation Inlet failed, and by 1914 the isolated small settlement of Cromartie (or Cromarty) there had been abandoned.

The area was administered as Fiord County from 1876 until it was absorbed into neighbouring Wallace County in 1981. Since 1989, it has formed part of Southland District and of the wider Southland Region.

Boundaries

thumb|Fraser Beach on the eastern shore of Lake Manapouri

There are currently varying definitions for the boundary of the Fiordland region. The eastern boundary of Fiordland according to Statistics New Zealand stretches from Sand Hill Point on the western end of Te Waewae Bay more or less straight north, cutting through Lakes Hauroko, Monowai, Manapouri, and the South Fiord of Lake Te Anau, before veering northwest and ending with the southern side of Te Houhou / George Sound. By that definition, the Fiordland region is almost entirely within the Fiordland National Park, except for small pockets near the two southernmost lakes, but the area does not include the three northernmost fiords (Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, Te Hāpua / Sutherland Sound, and Hāwea / Bligh Sound).

The much more widespread definition of "Fiordland" has an eastern boundary that roughly follows that of the Fiordland National Park for all but the northernmost end. This area contains all the fiords as well as the Hollyford Valley and also includes the area around Big Bay, which lies to the north outside of the Fiordland National Park, but still belongs to the Southland Region. Tourism organisations and the Department of Conservation use this definition of the Fiordland region. New Zealanders generally regard the towns of Te Anau and Manapouri as part of the Fiordland region, even though they lie outside of the boundary of the national park. and is dominated by the southernmost extent of the Southern Alps, as the peaks reduce in height from north to south.

right|thumb|Snow regularly falls to low altitudes in winter.

The tallest mountain in the Fiordland region is Mount Tūtoko at , one of several peaks over 2,000 metres in the Darran Mountains. Southeast of this area, there are only a handful of peaks reaching 2,000 metres, however due to the rainy weather with cold winters and lack of hot summer temperatures, even these mountains contain glaciers and peaks with permanent snow cover. The southernmost glacier is situated on Caroline Peak, which only reaches , and in the southwest of Fiordland the altitude for permanent snowfields lowers to under .

The past glaciation's deep carving out of the landscape has also resulted in fiord-like arms in Lake Manapouri and Lake Te Anau, and on the coast managed to cause several large chunks of the mainland becoming cut off. The largest of these uninhabited offshore islands are Resolution Island and Secretary Island, and are important conservation sites, particularly as sanctuaries for endangered native birds.

Constituent fiords

right|thumb|Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, the most famous tourist destination in Fiordland, and the only fiord accessible by road

Twelve fiords, some stretching up to inland, and two inlets leading to three more fiords, extend along the coast from Piopiotahi in the north to Rakituma / Preservation Inlet in the south. In general, the fiords become wider from north to south as the height of the mountains decreases. The outlets of the southernmost fiords have a character more akin to inlets, with only the inner arms such as Long Sound resembling fiords.

• Milford Sound / Piopiotahi – the only fiord in the area with road access
• Te Hāpua / Sutherland Sound
• Hāwea / Bligh Sound
• Te Houhou / George Sound – accessible via tramping track
• Taitetimu / Caswell Sound
• Taiporoporo / Charles Sound
• Hinenui / Nancy Sound
• Te Awa-o-Tū / Thompson Sound
• Doubtful Sound / Patea – accessible via tours and tramping track
• Te Rā / Dagg Sound
• Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound
• Tamatea / Dusky Sound – accessible via tramping track
• Taiari / Chalky Inlet – leads into Edwardson Sound and Kanáris Sound
• Rakituma / Preservation Inlet – leads into Long Sound

A further sound, Kaikiekie / Bradshaw Sound, is basically an extension of Thompson and Doubtful Sounds after their junction at the eastern end of Secretary Island.

Ecology

The area has been categorised as the Fiordland temperate forests ecoregion, having a variety of habitats and, due to its isolation, a high number of endemic plants. Much of Fiordland is heavily forested, except for locations where surface rock exposures are extensive. The natural habitats are almost completely unspoilt. Nothofagus "beech trees" are dominant in many locations, silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii) in the fiords and red beech (Nothofagus fusca) in the inland valleys. In the understory there are a wide variety of shrubs and ferns, including crown fern (Blechnum discolor), areas of scrubby herbs above the treeline, patches of bog next to mountain streams and finally an area of rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum)-dominated dunes in the Waitutu area on the south coast. Despite a latitude in the mid-40s, the treeline is generally below because of the cool summers and the influence of the Southern Ocean on the climate.

The area is home to threatened native bird species, such as the flightless takahē and kiwi, blue duck (whio), and yellowhead (mōhua). The takahē was presumed to have been extinct for 50 years before a small remaining population was discovered in Fiordland's Murchison Mountains in 1948. Since then, that area has been managed by the Department of Conservation, trapping stoats and controlling deer, helping takahē numbers in the area to increase to over 200 and remain at that level.

There are also a high number of insects and one indigenous reptile, the Fiordland skink (Oligosoma acrinasum). There are around 300 insect species endemic to the Fiordland region, many of them sizeable, such as weta, large caddis, and giant weevils, and some of them unusual, such as egg-laying worms, alpine cicadas, and brightly coloured alpine moths. There are six species of native sandflies (blackfly, Simuliidae) with one endemic to Fiordland.

Most of the area falls under the protection of the Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. Fiordland National Park has an area of 12,600 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in New Zealand and one of the larger parks in the world, containing many tourist attractions, such as Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and the Milford Track. The main threat to natural habitats is from introduced species, especially red deer, but these are now being hunted out of the area, and furthermore, the park includes a number of small offshore islands which are free from introduced species and are designated Specially Protected Areas.

Marine reserves

Ten marine reserves have been established in Fiordland to protect a wide variety of species and habitats.

The original two reserves were established at the request of the New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen in 1993:

• Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve
• Te Awaatu Channel (The Gut) Marine Reserve

An additional eight reserves were established on the recommendation of Fiordland Marine Guardians in 2005:

• Hawea (Clio Rocks) Marine Reserve
• Kahukura (Gold Arm) Marine Reserve
• Kutu Parera (Gaer Arm) Marine Reserve
• Moana Uta (Wet Jacket Arm) Marine Reserve
• Taipari Roa (Elizabeth Island) Marine Reserve
• Taumoana (Five Fingers Peninsula) Marine Reserve
• Te Hapua (Sutherland Sound) Marine Reserve
• Te Tapuwae o Hua (Long Sound) Marine Reserve

Demographics and economy

thumb|Tour boats at Milford Sound / Piopiotahi

The Fiordland statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Almost the entire population lives at Milford Sound (village).