The reflection
Earl Mountains.
lumoplank — CC0 · Jenny from Taipei — CC BY 2.0 · Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — CC BY 2.0 · LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Krzysztof Golik — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Mirror Lakes are a set of small lakes in Fiordland, New Zealand, north of Lake Te Anau and right beside the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound, about 49 km north of Te Anau in a straight line, or about 56 km by road, roughly halfway to Milford Sound. The car park beside State Highway 94 is a popular stop for tour buses heading to Milford Sound. A wooden viewing platform and short track run along the lakes. On one of them a sign is mounted deliberately back to front just above the water, so the name Mirror Lakes reads correctly in its reflection. On calm days the clear, still water becomes a mirror, reflecting the snow-capped Earl Mountains and Mount Eglinton upside down in perfect detail. Tall golden tussock and wetland plants grow along the banks, with green forest all around. Visitors reach the lakes in a five-minute walk from the car park along a wheelchair-friendly boardwalk. The reflections are best early in the morning, before the wind picks up and before the tour buses arrive. It makes an ideal short stop on the way to Milford Sound.
Earl Mountains.
Reads in the water.
Five minutes.
State Highway 94, between Te Anau and Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand
Early morning, before the wind.
No, five minutes from the car park.