Mt Titiroa is a prominent landmark of the Te Anau Basin area of northern Southland on the eastern flank of

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

. It is known for its white

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

rock which gives its summit the appearance of lingering snow even throughout the summer months, and is clearly visible from

Te Anau Te Anau is a town in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland List of regions in New Zealand, region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Māori language, Māori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake ...

township. The mountain summit area is known as ''Geiger's Garden'', and sports a number of oddly shaped boulders caused by exfoliation of the granite rocks. These are popular with

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

s and

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

s. In the 1990

the Mikey Havoc, Havoc and Newsboy television series did a spoof episode on Mount Titiroa looking for a lost civilization, in which they sat astride a rock outcrop shaped like a giant stone

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

. Shortly after the TV broadcast the

New Zealand Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand ...

announced that no commercial guides would be allowed to take people into the Mount Titiroa area.

References

* John Hall-Jones.1997. ''Discover Fiordland'', Published by Craig Printing Co.ltd, , 162 pages *

New Zealand Geographic Board The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) is the authority over geographical and hydrographic names within New Zealand and its territorial waters. This includes the naming of small urban settlements, localities, mounta ...

Database

elevision New Zealand video clip

ouTube video clip Mountains of Fiordland Southern Alps Fiordland National Park {{Fiordland-geo-stub