Milford Track

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We spent day before out trek packing our bags and as we were taking our day packs this was quite an operation(look at photo's to see most of stuff was hanging off back our bag)!  On the morning of the trek we took our car for its MoT (which we needed to sell it) - it was quite a nerve wracking time for us as our car had been through a car crash and was 13 years old, so we went for a coffee to calm ourselves down! We then got a phone call back at the campsite to say our car had 'just scrapped through' - yippee.  So we picked it up and celebrated by having another coffee and muffin! With 2 coffees inside us we then felt prepared to begin our 4 day trek to Milford.

Boat across to the start of the track.
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We caught the ferry (more free tea and coffee...caffeine levels were now dangerously high!) over Lake Te Anau.  The weather was fantastic and we got amazing views of the mountains.  Our first day involved an easy walk of 5km over flat ground to get to the Clinton Hut, where we would be spending our first night of the Milford Trek.  We had lots of things to keep us occupied once we got to our camp...we went on a walk around a wetlands area, the hut warden took os on a great nature walk and Colette even went on a night glowworm walk.  The first night was the only night we were going to have proper food!  We had cooked a massive sausage casserole the night before and it was delicious.

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The next day we had 16km to walk, mainly along the flat.  Again the sun was shining and we got stunning views of the valley we were walking along.  It was a really wide U shaped valley with a beautiful turquoise colour river running through it, which we were walking alongside for most of the day.  We made it in good time and got to our hut for 2pm...both of us were quite tired and only ventured out to visit the lake and have a little wander around our hut.  Tonights meal was our least favourite of the trek but we had Tim Tams to cheer us up after it!  It was quite cold in the hut that evening so we decided to start a fire to warm us up.. Neither Colette or I have great skill at starting or maintaining a fire (although we are having to learn fast as it has been so cold in NZ!), so got some help from a lovely Australian couple called Kelly and Tim.

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The next day we had to walk the top of Mackinnon Pass.  We made it in good time and had a snickers bar to reward ourselves (you can tell food was our main motivator through the walk!!)  The views at the top of the pass were very beautiful and we were again blessed with clear sunny weather (amazing since this is one of the wettest places in the world!!).  There were some cheeky Kea's at the top of the pass who would loved to have shared our food or even a bit of a boot(!!) with us.  It was then a long walk down and about an hour before reaching our hut we diverted off the track to Sutherland Falls... a very impressive (and the highest in NZ) waterfall.  We made back to our hut about 4pm and tonight had treated ourselves to an expensive freeze dried dinner.  It was quite good considering and the Tim Tams were again a great dessert!

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The next morning we woke up to rain...it had to happen sometime and at last we got to use our waterproofs!  We had our longest walk today and needed to catch the boat at 2.  So after an early rise we set off in the rain.  It was great to see the valley in the rain as all these waterfalls appeared. We stopped for lunch but discovered that we couldn't stop for too long as we got really cold. We got to sandfly point and were greeted by guess what ....? Sandlflies everywhere, they are horrible little black flies that come at you in swarms and any bit of exposed flesh gets eaten. Luckily we we were pretty covered up! We took refuge in the hut to wait for our boat across the sound to Milford. W were soggy, cold and dying for a cup of tea but we couldn't fail to notice the beauty of the sound.It was quite different to Doubtful because the two plates ( Pacific and Australasian ) meet here and form huge sheer mountains that plunge into the sound. It was covered by mist and cloud sweeping around and was very mysterious and still.

Ready to go . .
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It was sad to say goodbye to our group ( especially all the crazy Americans we met ! ) But we soon got over it when we reached our hostel with the best hot shower either of us had experienced. We both felt completely exhausted and weak. It was great when dinner time came around, our hostel gave us a lift to the Blue Duck Cafe and we stuffed our faces and enjoyed a spot of acholic beverage celebrating with a few friends that we made on route. We slept so well that night  . .

The following day we went on a cruise on the sound, which allowed us to appreciate it more fully from the day before.