The history of Fiordland is an intriguing one, and an amalgamation of Maori legend and early European discoverers. Te Anau itself has mainly built up as a launch point for the Milford Track and other tracks in the region.

The Tu-te-raki-whanoa Demi-god carved out the fiords with his adze Te Hamo, according to Maori legend, to form the extraordinary landscapes we see today. In reality, immense glaciated action over hundreds of thousands of years carved out the spectacular fiords and an intense amount of rain paved the way for dense vegetation to take root.

Not many Maori ventured into this area, apart from those who established the early Milford Track to gather the greenstone known as pounamu. They used the hard jade rock to carve jewellery and weaponry. Other well-worn trails were also set up to link the many Maori food-gathering camps.
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European history began, as with much of the rest of New Zealand, with the arrival of Captain Cook aboard the Endeavour. He sailed into the Fiordland region in 1773 and spent more than a month in Dusky Sound checking out the local wildlife and drawing maps. It was from his accounts of the abundance of seals in the region which led early whalers and sealers to the south coast.

Cook didn’t actually venture into what was to become New Zealand’s foremost natural attraction, Milford Sound. That honour is bestowed upon John Grono, one of the first sealers, who named the now famous fiord after Milford Haven in Wales.

The mid-1800s was a busy time for Fiordland when explorers, surveyors, and prospectors penetrated its remoteness. Donald Sutherland was the first white man to settle in Milford Sound, and the massive Sutherland Falls (New Zealand’s highest) are named after him. He built several houses in the area and his wife’s ghost is said to stalk Bridal Falls.

The Milford Track is actually an old Maori greenstone trail which was rediscovered sometime in the 19th century by Quinton MacKinnon, a Lake Te Anau recluse. A known drunk, MacKinnon disappeared and his boat turned up half submerged.

Tourism quickly grew in the 20th century after the jet-age really opened up the South Island and the once Maori greenstone trail of Milford Sound became the Milford Track, ‘the world’s finest walk’.

Information from:

• http://www.hoteltravel.com