All You Can Eat Buffet

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Franz Joseph & Fox Glaciers

Having walked on the Puerto Marino Glacier in Argentina we decided against walking on these glaciers as it would be just repeating ourselves, so we decided to go and walk to the Terminal faces of each of them. Puerto Marino, Franz Joseph and Fox we were informed are the only 3 glaciers in the world at forest level, and we thought that out of the 3 the PM one was definitely the bluest and nicest to see from the terminal faces.

As we decided against ice walking we decided to go kayaking on the nearby Lake Mapourika where we got amazing views of the nearby mountains as well as great reflections in the water. It was 7KM of kayaking partially over choppy water, but was great fun and very tiring on the arms.

Coolest Cinema in the South Island

The following morning we collected a disk of photos taken by the kayaking company and used their internet which was in a disused red bus. We then spent most of the rest of the day driving down to the picturesque Wanaka on the banks of Lake Wanaka. From here we did a day hike in preparation for the upcoming Milford Track, called Rob Roy. After an hours drive to Raspberry Creek, we walked continuously up hill for an hour and a half to see the nearby Rob Roy Glacier, but did not get as close as with Franz Joseph as it was at a much higher elevation. On the way back we discovered that Toyota have created a car that runs on air as we were totally running on fumes for most of the journey to Wanaka, and our crossed fingers must have had something to do with us getting to a petrol station in time.

That evening we decided to go to the local cinema which was the most unique one we have ever seen. The seats were old sofas and even a car to give a unique atmosphere. We saw the new Jodi Foster film, 'The Brave One' which was excellent and gripping, however just as we were engrossed there was an intermission and the whole cinema as one went 'Nooooo'. We filled the break with a freshly baked choc chip cookie - mmmmm.

Glow in the Dark

The next stop was another long drive down to the jump off point to the Milford Track called Te Anau. However before we got very far we stopped off in Puzzle World on the outskirts of Wanaka. This was great fun with angled rooms, faces following your every move and even a fiendishly difficult maze.

On the way down to Te Anau we stopped briefly in Queenstown to get supplies and hire camping cookware as the track required us to carry everything we wanted to take on our backs.

Once in Te Anau we collected our tickets and decided to investigate the local Glow Worm Caves. Without these there is not a lot to do in the town and boredom must be an every day occurrence. The caves were quite spectacular with the glow worms looking like the night sky except without the familiar constellations.

The Milford Track

Finally the day that we had been waiting for 5 months had arrived we were off on the Milford Track, supposedly the most beautiful hike in New Zealand if not the world. To begin with we sorted out the division of labour for the hike - Jan divided, and Stephen was to Labour. Most of the stuff would go in Stephens large back pack, whilst the Pots, sunscreen, snacks and lunch would go in his smaller day pack that Jan would carry.

Day 1 - Te Anau Downs to Clinton Hut

We took the afternoon boat from Te Anau Downs across Lake Te Anau to the drop off point for our next 53.5km hike (that’s a long way in miles) where we met some of our fellow hikers (40 of us in total) for the fist short 5km walk which was a gentle warm up. We were quite surprised by the quality of the facilities. The hut was provided by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and had bunk beds, gas rings and good clean toilets (with paper!). For the rest of the afternoon and evening we met our fellow travelers, who included 4 Israelis, 6 Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys (The French), a Swiss Air Stewardess, and an assortment of Ozzies and Kiwis ranging from 11 to 60. Most of the evening was spent talking to the Israelis and doing a fiendish jigsaw puzzle.

Day 2 - Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut

This was when the real 'fun' would begin 16.5 km of mainly flat but with some steep up hills. We woke up earlier than expected and left before 8am to begin the anticipated 6hr walk. During the walk we caught up with 2 of the Israelis and saw some beautiful views and even felt like detouring to the hidden lake. The constant refrain during the hike from Jan was 'I know I'm not allowed to complain...but" this was because her backpack was considerably smaller and lighter than the one that Stephen was carrying.

The only negative of the day was when Stephen ran out of water just before a Hut not operated by DOC but by the Guided Walk company (the charge considerably more that the DIY version that we were doing). We approached them about refilling his bottle and was told that he was trespassing on private property and to leave, when he said he only wanted water, they begrudgingly let him fill up, but almost immediately afterwards we were asked to leave and told to sit by the banks of the nearby river - only one problem - it was in an avalanche zone were the advice was don't stop. We didn't, just as well as we saw an avalanche as we had just finished crossing over, but it was high up and a long way from us.

We reached the Hut in the early afternoon and had our lunch and then decided to go to the nearby waterhole to cool our feet. Cool was an understatement - the water was glacial! We left the lake sooner than we wanted due to the proliferation of the local indigenous population - the evil, twisted, insidious SANDFLIES.

That evening due to the absence of jigsaws we taught 2 of the Israelis to play Scrabble and we learnt how to play Yahtzee.

Day 3 - Mintaro hut to Dumpling hut

That morning Jan woke up to find that despite putting on repellant she had been an all you can eat buffet for the Sand flies and had been bitten all over.

The day was a 14km hike with a steep climb to the Mackinnon Pass. Unfortunately when we got to the top there was a layer of cloud and fog so after putting on some layers we headed at a rapid pace to the Pass Hut, where we warmed up with coffee and trail mix. We then had to decide whether we waited for the fog to clear to take photos or carry on down the trail. We decided that as the day was meant to take 8 hours and because Jan was freezing to keep going.

The downhill track was really difficult as part of the main track was closed and we had to take the 'Emergency Track' which was not as well made up and included some additional scrambling. About 5 1/2 hours after we set off we made it to the Quintin Lodge where there was a walk to the Sutherland Falls (named after Donald Sutherland ). After re-invigorating ourselves with lunch and the complimentary coffee we set off to the falls, without the additional weight of our packs - what a relief! The falls are the highest in NZ of about 580m and were quite spectacular. Several hours later, 2 of the Israelis were there (they waited for the mist to clear for 2 hours) and saw an avalanche go down the falls and we later heard that they had been closed for the following days walkers.

We finally arrived at our destination over 8 hours after we set off, we were tired but decided to check out the local water stop. It looked very pretty, except for the sand fly infestation (we are itching thinking and typing about them). That night everyone was exhausted but instead of being able to go to bed early the DOC Warden spoke to us for the best part of an hour about the conservation work they did.

Day 4 - Dumpling hut to Sand fly point

Once again waking up early we set off for the final stretch a doddle at 18km, and we HAD to be at our destination by 2pm as the boat to Milford Sound left then. Easier than the previous day as it was pretty much flat, however the main obstacle to an easy stroll was a blister on Jans little toe.

To say that Stephen was not that sympathetic was an understatement, but the constant damage to his eardrums made him sit up and look at it - yep it was a blister! To be fair it was pretty BIG and affected the whole way Jan was walking and tripled the size of her baby toe, with the main problem being that it was on the sole of the toe, thereby hurting every step she took. She enjoyed bursting it that night.

On route we stopped at Bell Rock which was a giant hollowed out rock in the shape of - yep you guessed it - a bell. We then carried on to Giant Gate Falls where we had lunch as we wanted to avoid the delights of SANDFLY Point.

With everyone panicking about arriving in time for the boat we gave ourselves 1hr 45min to walk the final 3 and a bit miles and made it with 15 minutes to spare. Stephen volunteered Jan to walk the final stretch from the hut to the boat with his pack on, and only felt slightly guilty when he realised the final 500m were not all straight but with a slight rocky incline.

Day 4 - Milford Sound Cruise

We decided to finish our trip with a cruise over the Milford Sound which was our final destination. We were not disappointed as the scenery was absolutely stunning and even got to see a seal colony.

Overall the whole track and cruise was absolutely stunning, and we were some of the luckiest people ever to do the trail as in our 4 days in the region we did not have a drop of rain and were blessed with sunshine. Usually it rains 2 out of every 3 days, and we had heard some nightmare stories.

Moving House NZ Style

We decided to head straight to Queenstown instead of spending another night in Te Anau. On route we saw the most unusual way to move house - put it on a tractor trailer! We were stopped and asked to move off the road as a house was coming through - sure enough within 5 minutes a bungalow went motoring over the pass. Only in NZ!

As Bugs Bunny is fond of saying...That’s all folks!

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