Milford Track, New Zealand - December 2005

Late 2005 saw Sam and I taking our first trip across the ditch to New Zealand, we thought we may as well make it memorable so we booked in with a company called Ultimate Hikes. This was also our first guided hike so we were looking forward to the experience of having everything sorted for us. After a bus ride from Queenstown to Te Anau Downs and then a cruise up to the head of Lake Te Anau we were ready to start the walk.

Heading up Lake Te Anua towards Glade Wharf.

Day 1.  2 kilometres.
Yes, you read that right, today we did a grand total of 2 kilometres of trekking and even that was padded out a bit with a walk up to a cascade near Glade House in the afternoon. First up though we had to take our photo at the start point, from there it was less than thirty minutes up a gravel path to Glade House our first nights stop. With the weather being co operative the guides took us on a short walk in the afternoon, checking out a bit of the native flora as well as a stream cascading down the hill above Glade House. After my worst nightmare, a meet and greet where we were asked to sing a song from our native country, I kid you not.... f#@k!!!, we settled in for the night. This was certainly not hiking as I'd experienced it before, we had a queen room with en-suite, there was a drying room, a bar and a dining room with panoramic windows giving us a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.

The Clinton River from Glade House.

Grabbing a drink from a stream above Glade House.

A Robin foraging for food.

Sam's warming up her vocal cords.

Day 2. 16 kilometres, 18 kilometres Total.
Day two started early for this hiker, people were up around 6am getting ready for the days tramping (I'm getting the hang of this NZ lingo), breakfast was finished and we made our lunch from the wide selection that the Ultimate Hikes crew laid out for us, I wasn't going to lose any weight on this trip. Leaving Glade House we immediately crossed the Clinton River on a swing bridge, something we would become used to in NZ but not a common thing in Australia. The forest along this section was stunning, with 'old man's beard' draping the trees and the occasional glimpses of the crystal clear Clinton River through the trees. Shortly before reaching Clinton Hut we took a short detour on some duck boards to check out a sphagnum moss swamp that allowed us some good views of the surrounding mountains.

Morning, Day 2.

Our first suspension bridge for the walk.

We walked through a tunnel of green at times today.

We got glimpses of the Clinton River through the trees.

Landslides had dammed sections of the river creating small lakes.

We now started to head up the Clinton Valley and the vertical walls of the mountains closed in a bit , after a few hours we all regrouped at Hirere Falls Shelter for lunch, the cunning kea's enjoying more than one free feed. A little bit more walking after lunch bought us to a lake off the main track, there was a beautiful waterfall cascading down from the snow capped mountains towering above, with the kiwi guides jumping in for a swim what was I to do? In I went, you might say it was bracing! With my countries honour in tact I dried off and we headed off on the days last stage to Pompoloma Lodge. Settling in to our digs I was a bit apprehensive that tonight there might be charades before dinner, I was already working out an exit strategy. Thankfully there'd be no more forced entertainment for the rest of the trip and we were able to relax and chill out without wondering if we would be called on to perform.

The view from lunch.

Our first view of Mackinnon Pass.

Who is that fool, oh, hang on....

The water was running straight off the snow hundreds of metres above.

Sam's successfully adjusted to the guided walk.

Day 3. 20 kilometres, 38 kilometres Total.
Today was the crux of the journey, first thing after breakfast we had to climb over Mackinnon Pass, the highest spot on the walk. We'd been regaled with horror stories about the pass and the climb up, bad weather, steep slopes, etc, etc. Well we were lucky, the day, at that stage was fine and clear, and the track up was extremely well graded. We were met at the Mackinnon cairn by a guide with a hot cupper for us. The view took our breath away, on the side we had just ascended was the Clinton Valley, on the other side was the Arthur Valley. The kea's were also keen to take anything else we put down away, so we had to be a little careful while we scampered about taking photos. The cairn wasn't the top though, we now continued to climb up past a series of tarns before we eventually topped out at our lunch spot the Mackinnon Pass Hut.

Setting off on day 3, hey hey hey it all looks good!

A Weka.

With lunch in our stomach we started on the long decent down to Quinton Lodge. The track down consists of some rocky sections interspersed with with a lot of hardware in the form of duck boards, bridges and steps, all this makes the descent do-able for most people. When our knees got a little tired we just stopped and took in the views of snow, ice and rushing water. After a quick pit stop at Quinton Lodge Sam and I headed of on the five kilometre walk out to Sutherland Falls, the worlds 5th highest waterfall. The falls were as awe inspiring as I'd imagined, the roar of the crashing water sounding like a jet aeroplane about to take off. With the weather now deteriorating a bit we headed back and settled into our lodge for the night.

Mackinnon Pass.

The Kea probably posed the biggest danger.

Mackinnons cairn.

Sutherland Falls.

The bottom of Sutherland Falls, I don't think I'll go for a dip in this plunge pool.

Sutherland Falls, from the track back to Quinton Lodge.

Day 4. 21 kilometres, 59 kilometres Total.
We were up early today and on the march, we had a fairly long walk and the last ferry leaves Sandfly Point at 4pm. The weather had changed now and we would be accompanied by drizzling rain for most of the day, however with a day over Mackinnon Pass still fresh in our minds a little rain wasn't going to worry us today. After a quick bite to eat at the Boatshed on Lake Ada we soon arrived at the beautiful Mackay Falls, on any other walk they would be the attraction however on the Milford they were just one of many. After climbing inside Bell Rock we set off on the next stage to Giant's Gate Falls, next time I'm here I have to have a swim the water looks very enticing. Instead of swimming we enjoyed our last lunch on the track whilst taking in the falls.

Bell Rock.

Mackay Falls.

Something we don't see in Australia.

Probably the roughest section of the Milford Track.

Looking back down to the Arthur River.

With the rain was getting a bit heavier after lunch, and we now  just ticked of fthe kilometres through the forest to our ferry at Sandfly Point. We arrived in time to catch the 2pm ferry over to Milford Sound, the top of Mitre Peak shrouded in cloud. After checking into our room at Milford Sound Lodge we spent the remaining hours of the day watching natures show outside the window. The weather was now officially crap, with the rain horizontal (at one stage the wind blew a window out at the lodge). We enjoyed a celebratory dinner with our fellow trampers that night while the tempest raged outside, no singing thank god!

Giant's Gate Falls.

Looking down the valley of the Arthur River.

The end of our Milford Track Walk.

On our little boat transfer over to Milford Sound, the weather is deteriorating.

Day 5.
Yeah that's right zero kilometres today. Instead of walking we had a morning cruise on Milford Sound, now the weather hadn't improved overnight but it didn't matter, we were witnessing something amazing. The shear rock walls of the sound were awash with waterfalls and cascades, everywhere you looked there was white water crashing out of the mist above into the sound, some of the smaller waterfalls weren't even making the ground, the fierce wind whipping the water away. After finishing the cruise a couple of very happy trampers got back on the bus and crossing through the Homer Tunnel arrived at Te Anua where we prepared for our next adventure, the Routeburn Track. I'll write about that another day.

The Dirt.
We walked with Ultimate Hikes and it was great (so great were going back this year). The Milford lived up to its hype of being the best hike in the world, there wasn't any filler its all killer. The track itself is constructed to an extremely high standard, I've never encountered a more well constructed multi day trek. The only day that required much fitness was the day over Mackinnon Pass, but it really wasn't too bad. The weather is a factor that could make or break someone's trip, a rest assured there will be weather. If you can relax and except what mother nature throws at you the Milford can be appreciated in any weather, we just enjoyed being in such a special place.