I think I'll start by explaining what sort of trip this was. It was a guided trip, approximately 40 people with 4 guides. We slept in fantastic lodges (we had our own room and bathroom) had three meals provided to us each day along with an assortment of wines available in the evening. Dinners were always 3 courses followed by a nice presentation regarding what we would encounter the following day on the hike. Needless to say this was a posh arrangement! One can hike the Milford Track independently at about a third to two-thirds the price but for us on this trip it worked out well and we enjoyed ourselves and our other hikers and I certainly didn't mind having to sleep in a regular bed. (Independents to get to sleep in a hut with bunk beds and only need to bring in their sleeping bags and food along with their clothes).
About half of our group was made up of a Japanese tour group (one man was somewhere between 72-77 years old). There were 3 other US groups, one from the Bay Area, Boston and Tennessee. Three groups from Australia and 1 couple from England. There was another couple from Japan who were also on their honeymoon but had actually gotten married in NZ 2 days before starting the hike.
Our trip consisted of taking a bus from Queenstown to Te Anau then a boat across Te Anau lake and a less than a mile hike to our first lodge (Day 1 was easy). Day 2 was 10 miles of relatively flat track through fairly dense bush following the Clinton River. One of the best parts of the hike was that we could drink the water straight from the rivers. The water in the Fiordlands is tested frequently and is still contaminant free. I swear the water stayed colder longer when it was straight out of the river and into the bottle! I was certainly tired after 10 miles but looking forward to the rest of the hike!
Crossing the Clinton River at beginning of Day 2
Day 3 was around 9 miles and found us heading up over McKinnon Pass with a 1000 meter elevation change.
Heading up the pass
The pass was incredible and we had perfect weather on the top! The Keas (alpine parrots) came to play and were very curious about our packs. Keas are very cheeky birds and will swipe anything left unattended for the sheer fun of it and then fly it high up and let it drop.
Kea!
Day 4, our last day of hiking was long with 13.5 miles to finish out the track and end at Sandfly Point (Sandflies are little black flies and that bite and make welts like mosquitoes. Sandflies, unfortunately love moving water so any view points were usually cut short by these pesky critters, although they made the guides' jobs easier by keeping everyone moving as they don't bother you if you keep walking). At Sandfly Point we took a boat to the inner edge of Milford Sound for our last night.
The views along the track were spectacular, with waterfalls seemingly around every corner. The trees were filled with birds that while you might not be able to see them you could certainly hear them. NZ has only 2 native mammals both bats. Introduced mammals include deer (we only saw farmed), possum, rabbits and stoats. Unfortunately the stoats will kill anything and many bird populations have suffered including the kiwi and other rare species. There are many stoat traps along the track in efforts to try and rid NZ of this pest.
Our last day of our trip included a boat tour of the sound which was amazing though not as many waterfalls as there sometimes can be. We had perfect weather for our days of hiking which meant a 4 day drought for the Fiordlands. The Sound gets up to 7-9 meters of rainfall a year! On a rainy day the entire Sound can be one big waterfall. We did get to see more fur seals and yellow-crested penguins though!
Instead of taking the bus back to Queenstown, Ben and I opted to for the helicopter ride! Seeing the Fiordland peaks from the helicopter was fantastic and a perfect way to end our hike!
I know this post didn't do justice to the hike and the pictures can't even begin to capture the beauty around every corner! More pictures will make it soon!
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