Around 100 years ago, in an article that appeared in the London Spectator, the poet Blanche Baughan declared the Milford Track to be "the finest walk in the world." If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is. We had booked our trip over four months in advance, since only 40 independent hikers can go each day and the spots fill up quickly. We found the entire affair very well organized. We started early on the morning of the 10th (Day 1), catching a transfer bus from a ranger station the shoes of Lake Te Anu where we boarded a ferry. After an hour on the lake, we landed at Glade Warf, the start of the track, and headed off into the woods.
We soon had separated ourselves from the other 38 people starting the track that day and felt like we were out in the middle of the beautiful area all by ourselves. The forest was old, thick, and moss covered. The Clinton River that hugged the trail was milky blue from the glacial runoff. The surrounding perpendicular cliffs were 1000 m straight up into the clouds. One interesting thing about hiking in New Zealand is the lack of mammalian life. When you hike in the U.S. or Oz you can expect to see a squirrel or wallaby. In New Zealand there are no equivalent animals, just a host of birds. After a short first day (about 2 1/2 hours) we arrived at our first night's lodging, Clinton Hut.
Day 4: The next morning was quiet. As I woke up the thundering of the prior night's rain was gone. We got up and found that although the rain was gone, it had left us with thousands of waterfalls streaming down the cliffs on each side of the valley. We walked 11 miles along the swollen river toward Milford Sound taking it all in. Finally, we turned a corner and we were there at Sandfly Point, the end of the Milford track. We sat around the grass with the other hikers and had lunch, thankfully protected from the nasty sandflies by a very strong wind blowing off the water. The ferry boat came and transferred us to the Milford Sound ferry terminal. From there we took a relaxing trip to the end of the sound at the Tasman Sea and back, spying a colony of sea lions along the way. Back at the ferry terminal we boarded a minibu, which shuttled us back to Te Anau. After a very long shower at our holiday park in Te Anau, we had dinner at the Fat Duck, gourging ourselves on some well deserved grub.
We soon had separated ourselves from the other 38 people starting the track that day and felt like we were out in the middle of the beautiful area all by ourselves. The forest was old, thick, and moss covered. The Clinton River that hugged the trail was milky blue from the glacial runoff. The surrounding perpendicular cliffs were 1000 m straight up into the clouds. One interesting thing about hiking in New Zealand is the lack of mammalian life. When you hike in the U.S. or Oz you can expect to see a squirrel or wallaby. In New Zealand there are no equivalent animals, just a host of birds. After a short first day (about 2 1/2 hours) we arrived at our first night's lodging, Clinton Hut.
There is no camping on the Milford. All parties must stay in specific huts positioned along the trail, which are complete with toilets and kitchen facilities. We got settled in and relaxed with a bottle of cabernet and some brie. Yes, what can I say, we were roughing it. Later we listed to the ranger Peter's nature talk and then made an amazing chicken curry dinner with fresh veggies and rice. It was during Peter's talk we learned about the introduced menace: the stoat. It is a very cute weasle-like pest that was introduced to kill the previously introduced rabbits, but they ended up just killing a large portion of the native bird population. There are something like 50,000 traps set up in the New Zealand wilderness areas to try and control the stoat population. Just before bed, we went on a night hike to see the famous New Zealand glow worms. It is easy to imagine the Maori coming up with mystical tales about these glowing colonies...they are quite beautiful.
Day 2: The next morning we were up at 6:45 and in amazing show of "wallaby pace" by Lindsay, we were the first ones on the trail at 7:15. (Based on that, you can guess that wallaby pace is fast. Most mornings Lindsay moves at a much slower pace - "echidna pace.") Again we were by ourselves on the trail surrounded by the beautiful scenery. The sun was shining and the hiking was pretty easy. We passed countlesss waterfalls, walked through old forests and expansive meadows. We saw ducks, geese and trout along the way.
Day 2: The next morning we were up at 6:45 and in amazing show of "wallaby pace" by Lindsay, we were the first ones on the trail at 7:15. (Based on that, you can guess that wallaby pace is fast. Most mornings Lindsay moves at a much slower pace - "echidna pace.") Again we were by ourselves on the trail surrounded by the beautiful scenery. The sun was shining and the hiking was pretty easy. We passed countlesss waterfalls, walked through old forests and expansive meadows. We saw ducks, geese and trout along the way.
Five hours later we arrived at the second hut, Mintaro Hut. There we dropped our bags, had a bite to eat, and walked up the trail to MacKinnon Pass, the only steep part of the entire Milford hike. The rule of thumb in Fiordland is if you get to Mintaro Hut and the weather is clear, go up for the views even though it requires going back to Mintaro Hut for the evening...the odds are the next day it will be rainy and overcast. Even without our packs which we left at the hut, the hour that it took to get to the top was the hardest part of the trip bar none. The reward, however, was worth the pain. We arrived on top with clear view on both sides of the pass and it was out-of-this-world beautiful. We hung out on top for an hour or two taking it all in. After a bit we returned to Mintaro Hut in the valley below and we BOTH went for a glacial dip in a lake by the hut. There is a video of my lovely wife taking a swim in the icy lake...and I have been told that I am not allowed to show it to anyone. Later we had some spaghetti for dinner and went to bed very early.
Day 3: Up at 6:30, we were back on the trail at 7:15. We made it back up to MacKinnon pass in 45 minutes with our packs and were up there for less than 20 minutes before the clouds rolled in. With the views now all lost in the clouds, we made our way down the other side of the pass through the mist. Along the way were countless signs on the trail prohibiting stopping because of the avalanche and rockslide dangers. While walking along the trail, we hear a loud sound nearby...KEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH! There on a rock just off the trail was not one, but two of the mischevious alpine parrots called Keas. They sang and called and I took heaps of photos. The rest of the way down to the valley below followed a beautiful, narrow canyon with some spectacular waterfalls, one of which was called Lindsay Falls.
Once on the floor of Arthur's Valley, we had lunch, dropped our bags, and made our way to Southerland Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the Southern Hemisphere. I went under the falls and got soaked, and we had our first encounter with the local flightless birds, the Wekas. We then returned to the packs and made our way to the final hut, Dumpling Hut, for our last night on the trail. Before dinner a few of us (not including Lindsay this time) took a dip in the nearby river...amazingly it was still cold. That night the skies opened up and it began to DUMP. It poured and poured and as I laid in bed I began to regret my decision not to by waterproof pants and waterproof shoes.
Day 4: The next morning was quiet. As I woke up the thundering of the prior night's rain was gone. We got up and found that although the rain was gone, it had left us with thousands of waterfalls streaming down the cliffs on each side of the valley. We walked 11 miles along the swollen river toward Milford Sound taking it all in. Finally, we turned a corner and we were there at Sandfly Point, the end of the Milford track. We sat around the grass with the other hikers and had lunch, thankfully protected from the nasty sandflies by a very strong wind blowing off the water. The ferry boat came and transferred us to the Milford Sound ferry terminal. From there we took a relaxing trip to the end of the sound at the Tasman Sea and back, spying a colony of sea lions along the way. Back at the ferry terminal we boarded a minibu, which shuttled us back to Te Anau. After a very long shower at our holiday park in Te Anau, we had dinner at the Fat Duck, gourging ourselves on some well deserved grub.
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