The National Park service in New Zealand maintains several "Great Walks" which take several days to complete. There are "huts" at several points along each route which have bunks and kitchens, so you don't have to carry tents or Thermarests or stoves. Reservations are required for the huts (and you can't camp elsewhere), and most of the walks are quite popular. We spent an afternoon on one small segment of the Kepler Track, near Te Anau.

Crossing the Te Anau River to get to the track.

Most of the walk was through lush dark forest.

Tree ferns.

There was a lot of interesting fungus.

This one was exuding brown syrup.

There was a small wetland by the trail.

The water margin was lined with sphagnum.

Sundew.

This water was distinctly reddish-brown.

Here's a "hut". It's on the shore of Lake Manapouri. It's very important not to stop moving here because if you do, you get attacked by sandflies.

Back in Te Anau, we stayed at the Shakespeare House B & B, which had a pretty garden...

... with flamboyant zinnias.

That evening we went to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves across Lake Te Anau, where we took this sunset picture. Photography wasn't allowed in the cave. We saw the cave on little boats which the guides moved by pulling along ropes hung from the ceiling. There were some pretty dramatic "Magellanic cloud" concentrations of glowworms in some places.

On to Doubtful Sound