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Milford Track Trip, Overview / Itinerary

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Hike Log and Itinerary

How was it?  Well, to sum it up in three words - wet, wet and wet!!

Day 1: Stuck in Te Anau - rained out! (no glade house) [7 pics]

We boarded the bus in the morning in Queenstown for the two hour bus journey to Te Anau ... and we didn't get any further.  It was pouring down rain on the Track and people were stranded at the lodges.  They start a new hike every day. Therefore, there was nowhere for us to go.  They did an amazing job of finding rooms for us all and we settled down for the afternoon of waiting.  Rob was in an Internet cafe for most of the afternoon, of course!  =)  We got to bond a little with some of the people on the trip over a three-course dinner - everyone's really great.

Day 2: 11 mile hike to Pamplona, some sunshine! [61 pics]

The next day, we hiked 11 miles straight through to the second hut of the hike.  Everyone that had stayed in the huts the night before were flown ahead via helicopter.  We had a half day of sun and a half day of clouds.  It was a gorgeous walk!  Rob thought the trail was too easy - so they gave us a little challenge of crossing a raging stream that came to our waist.  We had to hold on to each other and a rope while crossing so we wouldn't get washed away.  We then had to walk through marsh land, and mud up to our knees. It was great fun!  We got to the Hut and took hot showers and talked with some of our fellow trampers.

Day 3: 9 mile hike over the pass, torrential rain and cold [93 pics]

The next day was raining cats and dogs.  The generator went on at 6:15 and we lay in bed waiting for them to call it off.  We went down and made our lunches, had a cooked breakfast and ... went out in the pouring rain!!  Those that were sad that their boots never quite dried out from the night before quickly realized how silly they were.  It was quite an adventure for us fair weather hikers.  We are really thankful that we were advised to get underwater casings for our cameras (thanks, Howard!) as we were the only ones who got pictures.  Today was McKennan Pass - although it was hard to see where we were hiking.  Rob took a great movie shot while standing on a floating helipad in the middle of a lake during the monsoon. It was only 9 miles but took longer because of the elevation changes.  We were really looking forward to the views, but were sadly disappointed.  On the other hand, the waterfalls were stunning, there were hundreds of them, and we hiked through most of them several times! We got a hot beverage when we made it to the top, stopped for lunch when we went over the pass, and hiked down in the freezing cold to Quintin Lodge and more hot showers.  On the way down, we watched an avalanche on the opposite hill and were pleased that we were not underneath it. We weren't able to take a side track to Sutherland Falls at the end of the day because they had removed the bridge and helicopter'ed it forward for the next days' hike.  Our guides made the most of it and it was fun to see the slide shows of what things would look like if the sky was blue.

Day 4: 13.5 mile end hike, intermittent rain and sandflies [44 pics]

The morning of the fourth day started out dark and cloudy but with no rain until after our morning tea stop. It was mild compared to yesterday and pretty flat walking. Rob found it was too dark for pictures most of the time (with clouds obscuring most of the peaks), but we got some good ones due to our new walking stick/camera pole. (unipod not a tripod) We made it out after 13.5 miles for a total of 33.5 miles.  We were the only group in the week to walk the whole track because of the weather, and it that was a nice feeling.  The end of the hike was called Sand Fly Point.  Sand flies are lovely creatures, and we have the bites to prove it where we forgot to cake on the repellant.  The females are the blood suckers for the protein. Legend has it that the Maoris introduced these bugs so people wouldn't enjoy nature too much. Kerstin showed her love by going out in a storm of sandflies to snag Rob's sandals at the end of the hike. She doesn't bring it up. Not too often at least.

We ended the day with a short boat ride across the sound to the Mitre Peak Lodge, cleaned up, and had our celebratory dinner with some of our new friends.

Day 5: Milford Sound cruise in pouring rain; bus ride home through falling snow [12 pics]

The next day was our Milford Sound cruise and it was pouring rain!  Again, we waited for them to call it off and begged to stay behind in the warm hotel that was stationary after another big breakfast and some aching legs.  But, the show must go on and we got on the ferry for a two hour boat ride around the sound.  We weren't able to see much but I'm sure it was lovely underneath all those clouds and rain!  We then took the 4-hour bus ride back to Queenstown and checked into our new hotel.  This hotel was right on the busy road so we were sure to get lots of sleep in the next three nights.  We headed back down town and met 12 of our fellow tramping friends for a night of pizza and drinks at a place called The Cow.  It was quite an adventure, and we made some great friends - really lovely people.

So, would we do it again?  If we were guaranteed better weather.  We were happy to have done it and we did meet some great people. It's more likely we'd wait for better weather and pick another hike for variety instead.