Advertisement
Published: February 28th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Shuttle Bus: First step to the Milford
Our trip to the Milford Track began with a cozy shuttle that took us an hour west of Te Anau to the boat launch. With the boatride we made it to the trailhead of our 34 mile hike. From the markets of Rajasthan to the cosmopolitan streets of Sydney and Paris, our hiking boots and quick dry clothing never quite fit in. Finally on the south island of New Zealand we found an entire town full of people dressed just like us. Once an isolated farming community, Te Anau has become an important gateway to the spectacular Fiordland wilderness areas. Most of the locals we met seemed to be working in between their outdoor pursuits of hiking, kayaking and climbing.
Less than 24 hours after our arrival on the south island we were on our way to the start of the Milford Track. Dubbed "the finest walk in the world" by an enthusiastic journalist this hike was initially accessible only with a guide. The first hikers to break the rules were christened "freedom walkers" and the term is still used today. The 53 km track is isolated by Lake Te Anau on one end and Milford Sound on the other. Access is limited to 40 guided and 40 freedom walkers per day, with peak season trips requiring a reservation up to 6 months in advance.
As we crossed Lake Te Anau to the trail head, grey clouds
Trailhead of the Milford
Corey with the trailhead sign. Our hike is really a 3 day hike with a short 5km flat walk on the first afternoon. The remaining 32 miles of the hike would be completed over the following three days. loomed on the horizon and we weren’t sure how much of the famous scenery we would actually get to see. The annual rainfall is measured in meters, and even in the "drier" season there can be rain as many as 15 days per month. Luckily our first hike was short and easy, giving us time to meet some of our fellow walkers. Our group included several gregarious New Zealand families, two Australian retirees and a young couple from Germany. The "huts" that we shared along the hike were basic but comfortable, with running water and gas stoves as well as bunk beds. Huts for the guided and freedom walkers are strategically spaced apart to minimize the traffic at any one time on the trail.
By morning the clouds had begun to lift and we ascended through sun dappled forests into a narrow glacial valley. Early on the third day we summited McKinnon Pass, the highest point on the trail with a 360 view of the surrounding peaks. The steep descent took us past a series of waterfalls, culminating with the highest permanent waterfall in New Zealand. Three tiered Sutherland Falls cascades 580 meters from a mountain ledge to a
Brown Robin
Our first evening included a nature hike which included plant identification, history of the area and glimpses of the local fauna. furiously frothing pool. When the water level in the area is at its peak, spray from the falls can be felt up to 1/4 mile away.
The Fiordland area has few mosquitoes, but summer hikers are persecuted by swarms of biting sand flies whenever they stop for too long. According to Maori legend, Milford Sound was so beautiful that one of their goddesses feared people would relax there forever. So she created sand flies to ensure that they continued getting their work done! By the end of our third day of hiking we were beginning to believe the story, as we were forced to abandon an idyllic swimming hole for the safety of our securely screened hut.
The fourth day of our hike brought more waterfalls, placid streams and peaceful forests with an amazing variety of ferns. There were a few species that we recognized from the temperate rainforest in Washington, but dozens more unique to this particular ecological niche. The track ends at Milford Sound, certainly the most famous panorama but almost anticlimactic after all of the natural beauty we had already seen. A short boat ride delivered us to a waiting shuttle, which drove us past
First Hut on Morning of Day 2
With our boots cinched on tight we hiked from this hut to a similar one about 11 miles away. even more spectacular mountain vistas on our return to Te Anau.
After a few days to enjoy hot showers, clean sheets and fresh vegetables, we were off on our next outdoor adventure. This time we joined a guided kayaking trip led by Fiordland Wilderness Expeditions, one of the only outfitters licensed to camp in the remote Doubtful Sound. At the pre trip meeting, our guide quickly informed us that our lightweight raincoats would be useless when it finally started to rain. "We wear PVC down here!" In addition to sturdier raincoats, we were also fitted for wetsuits, paddle jackets and extra layers of fleece. We discovered that we were the two novices of the group, with two experienced middle-aged couples and a young man working on his own certification as a kayaking guide.
Doubtful Sound got its name from Captain Cook, who did not enter the narrow harbor mouth because he was "doubtful" that his ships could get out again. The area was virtually inaccessible until the 1970s, when the New Zealand government constructed an access road for a hydroelectric plant. Environmental protests eventually limited the scope of the project, but the road provided some limited access for
River valley
The second day was overcast but dry and the views of the peaks were obscured so we focused on the peaceful river and waterfalls of the Milford track. fisherman and boaters. The trip from Te Anau still requires nearly 3 hours, with a 45 minute boat ride across another lake just to reach the access road for the sound.
Our kayaking trip began with a challenging paddle into a headwind, leaving us little time to admire the scenery as we struggled to coordinate our strokes. We were all relieved to reach our campsite, where we set up smaller tents for sleeping and a large screen shelter to protect us from the sand flies while we were cooking and eating. Our second day of paddling was much more peaceful, as we explored one of Doubtful Sound's narrow side arms. Seals basked on rocks along the water's edge and dolphins surfaced within a few feet of our boats. Our guide bemoaned the absence of the sound's famous waterfalls, but we decided that was a reasonable price to pay for magnificent blue skies! A brisk tailwind on the third day allowed us to "sail" our kayaks most of the way back to the starting point. Two paddlers in the front held their boats together, while two paddlers in back raised a sail on a pair of oars. Much less sophisticated
Quokka
A native bird to NZ, the Quokka is a shy brown flightless bird and was happy to pose for my camera. than a sailboat but it definitely gave us an appreciation for some of the challenges that early sailors faced.
After leaving Fiordland, we rented a car and drove along the rugged west coast of the south island. Here the rain finally caught up with us, and our first stop in the village of Okuru reminded us of many small fishing communities along our own NW coast. Other highlights of the drive included the towering terminal face of Fox Glacier and the Pancake Rocks at Punakaki. These sandstone have been eroded over centuries into towering columns, and waves rushing up beneath them at high tide create spectacular natural geysers.
Our west coast odyssey ended in Picton, where we took a morning hike to a 270 degree viewpoint of Queen Charlotte Sound. We also enjoyed a wine tasting tour through the nearby Marlborough valley, one of New Zealand's best known wine growing regions. We learned that because the soil in the area is rocky, it is better suited for growing white grapes such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. By the end of the day, we had sampled many memorable white wines and agreed with our guide that "Wine is light
held together by water (a quote from Galileo)" Backpacks heavier with several bottles of wine to take back to the US, we were ready to continue our adventures on the North Island.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 19; qc: 71; dbt: 0.0392s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb