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Published: February 3rd 2009
Hello!
We just got off the Milford track yesterday. This is New Zealands most popular and famous walk with over 14,000 people hiking it a year. We spent the night at a holiday park in Te Anau, a tourist town, but on a beautiful lake. Here we indulged in a big dinner before heading out on the trail the 30th.
To get to the start of the Milford track we took a hour boat ride. The scenery was incredible, everyone on the boat had their camera's out. From the boat we stepped into a solution to decontaminate our boots and were on our way.
The 3 nights we were staying would be spent in huts, complete with gas burning stoves! For us this meant hot food and lighter packs
(no tent). For such a popular track we were pleased to see that it wasn't to crowded. 40 bunks per hut plus the guided tours, but we never really ran into them.
The first two nights were spent following a river valley flanked by 1100 meter mountains, very easy and flat going. Even with the drought conditions (over 3 days without significant rainfall!) there was plenty of waterfalls
to see pretty much anywhere we looked.
Our second day was where the elevation really began to change. 500 meters to 1100 meters up the mountain. Again, no rain and clear views. This was everyone's favorite and hardest day because after going over the mountain you can hike another hour on a side trail to see New Zealand's tallest waterfall (worlds 5th tallest). This was incredible! So incredible that looking wasn't enough. We hiked behind the falls and were promptly soaked (the Rangers encourage everyone to do this, few of our party did).
The last day was pretty flat with few highlights compared to the first couple days. At the end of the trek we took a boat through Milford sound (which is in competition for the 7th world wonder). We felt the tourist trap as soon as we got off the boat and promptly hitched out with a couple form the Netherlands. We bought them dinner and drove here to Invencargill, spending the night at another holiday park.
Today we're off to Stewart Island to do the Northwest circuit track. This consists of 10 days, lots of elevation gain and even more mud. We just bought
some gaiters and will be restocking on food. We'll update with pictures and video's when we get back. Wish us luck!
Sean
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