18 and 19 March 2025
Te Anau is a relaxed, lakeside town on the South Island of New Zealand. We stayed at this town for 2 nights since it serves as a gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound.
After a long drive from Wanaka, with a stopover for sightseeing and lunch at Arrowtown, we arrived at Te Anau in the late afternoon.
Where we stayed
Our accommodation in Te Anau was the Amber Court Motel. Amber Court Motel offers modern accommodation in a quiet location, just a few minutes walk from Lake Te Anau. Our 1-bedroom apartment includes kitchenette facilities, satellite TV and electric blankets on the beds.
Dinner at the Redcliff Restaurant and Bar
I had made dinner reservations at the Redcliff Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant has a reputation of being the best restaurant in Te Anau for great food, wine, and friendly service and hence it was prudent to make prior reservations on their website.
The restaurant was easy to find and has plenty of parking spaces just outside. We were a little early for our reservations so we took a short walk by Lake Te Anau.
The views of the sunset as viewed from the shores of Lake Te Anau were nothing great despite the relatively clear sky. It was also quite chilly so we took refuge at a souvenir shop.
We went to Redcliff Restaurant a bit earlier than the reservation time so we had to wait a little for our table.
Once seated, we were offered the menu plus blankets since we sat in a semi-outdoor dining area on the garden deck. The temperature in the dining area was quite pleasant, so no blanket was needed.
The restaurant is known for their wild venison, so I ordered the grilled venison dish from the Today's Special.
My son ordered the Wild Venison Osso Buco. This is slow-cooked osso buco with creamy mash, tomato mirepoix ragout & garden peas and parmesan shards.
My wife ordered the Blue Cod served with crushed mascarpone potatoes & seasonal vegetables, topped with beurre blanc sauce.
NZ Blue cod dish.
Overall, the dishes were nicely plated, delicious although I found my grilled venison slightly overdone and a little dry. Redcliff also serves some nice local beer and ale. On top of that, the service was excellent.
Star Gazing in Te Anau
Te Anau has little light pollution and is a great place for star gazing. My son and I tried to do a bit of star gazing after dinner as we saw that the sky was quite clear and the moon has not risen.
I had hoped to see the Milky Way galaxy since it is impossible to see it back home. I had read that it is visible in New Zealand between February and October.
We had to dress warmly in our down jackets as the night air was quite chilly. My wife preferred to stay warm and chose to sit this activity out.
We did not have to go very far. The stretch of road just outside the hotel has no street lamps. Although there was a little light from the hotels and residential houses, it was still very dark. We could see thousands of stars, the planet Mars and most exciting to me, the Milky Way!
We tried astrophotography using our smartphones (Galaxy S24 and Iphone) mounted on our tripods. This was our second time trying out astrophotography. The first time we did that was during our hike at Tiger Leaping Gorge but the sky was a bit cloudy that night that we could not take any decent photos.
We had better luck in Te Anau and managed to take some photos of the constellations and the Milky Way.
Dinner at The Fat Duck Gastropub.
We did a cruise on Milford Sound and even completed a 3 hour hike to Key Summit the next day. I knew we would returned to Te Anau a bit later than our first evening so I had made reservations for dinner at The Fat Duck Gastropub at 7.45 PM.
Like the Redcliff, the Fast Duck Gastropub serves excellent food and hence very popular with locals and tourists. With prior reservation, we were seated immediately.
The restaurant is famous for their pulled duck wontons which we ordered as starters. The wontons were crispy and delicious but I detected a faint hint of gamey duck taste which was OK for me but some may dislike.
We also ordered the steamed green lipped mussels, twice cooked pork belly with apple chutney and braised lamb shoulder.
Steamed green lipped mussels with classic creamy white wine & garlic sauce and garlic bread. 
The food was beautifully plated and delicious. Although a bit pricey, there is value delivered and I would highly recommend both Redcliff and Fat Duck for those visiting Te Anau.
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