Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapouri, perhaps New Zealand's most beautiful lake, lies 30km west of Te Anau. With an area of 142 sq.km, it has no less than three dozen islands and islets. The lake is surrounded by high hills; only on the east, where the Waiau River flows out of the lake to link it with Lake Te Anau, is the landscape more open. The surface of the lake is 178m above sea level; at its deepest point (443m) the bed of the lake is well below sea level.