Like a log flume ride in a theme park, which carries a warning 'you will get wet' so is the Milford Track. Hailed as the greatest walk in the world, it is also in the Fiordland area of NZ which receives 7m (21ft) of rain per year. And some of that fell during our tramp. We left Te Anau in glorious sunshine, despite the grim weather forecast for the following 3 days. We caught the boat across Te Anau Lake, which is the only way to access the track. As well as the 40 independent trampers who are allowed to start the track each day (huts are 40 person capacity) there is also a guided group every day - they stay in their own huts, fully catered with hot showers and WINE and BEER! We amused ourselves by betting which ones would make it to the end of the trek, as some of them looked as though they could hardly walk upstairs let alone cope with 33.5miles of tramping - including the traverse of the Mckinnon pass at 1100m. The first day is rather a soft introduction; you leave the boat at Glade Wharf and walk about 5k to the hut where we spent the first night. The DOC ranger there was one of the most informative and energetic ones we have encountered so far; he organised a nature walk which was interesting enough to counteract the sandflies, his hut talk taught us more about the wildlife of NZ and the conservation challenges facing the DOC than any other source of information and, to cap it all, he took those who were interested on a night walk to look at a colony of glow worms. They were like a constellation of stars hanging at eye level. Amazing. The next morning we awoke to rain - the forecast was, as is usually the case with poor ones, accurate. We had a 16k hike up the side of the Clinton river, climbing to 600m to the Mintaro hut where we would sleep that night. We took lots of photos which served to show how wet we were. Sadly the cloud base was so low that views were limited to the odd glimpse of a peak, a few capped with ice fields and snake-like waterfalls cascading into the valley. The hut had a wood stove, which was pressed into service to dry out 40 pairs of boot, coats, trousers etc. Guess what the weather was doing the following morning? correct. We had a 500m ascent through cloud up to the MacKinnon Pass, where a memorial to Mackinnon - who was the person who forged the track across to Milford Sound and led the first guided tours of it - loomed large through the mirk. It was a bit draughty by now, so we paused long enough to take a photo and one of Kate by 12-second drop (there's a view out there somewhere!) before starting the knee-jarring 970m descent (a quick stop to use the loo with the best view in NZ; well that day we had to take their word for it). We took a detour from the main route to take a look at the highest waterfall in NZ. The Sutherland Falls drop 580m from Lake Quill in 3 stages. Spectacular - no doubt even more so thanks to the recent rain. We had a little excitement on our arrival at the Dumpling Hut. A walker from the previous days group had become lost and disorientated in the rainforest. We had picked up the cries for help and were called on to assist the ranger to locate the walker and Paul stayed with him until the rescue helicopter arrived. Luckily he had no more than cuts and bruises (the walker not Paul). We had a 18km wet walk out on the last day to catch the boat across to Milford Sound. The walk was punctuated by views of cascades swollen by the rain and avalanche paths, strewn with rock falls and broken trees. Sandfly Ppoint, at the end of the walk lived up to its name and Milford Sound looked moody and magnificent in the rain and cloud(see photo). We were glad to get back to a hot shower and a reunion with the food and wine of the Fat Duck in Te Anau!
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Sunday 22nd February 2009
Like a log flume ride in a theme park, which carries a warning 'you will get wet' so is the Milford Track. Hailed as the greatest walk in the world, it is also in the Fiordland area of NZ which receives 7m (21ft) of rain per year. And some of that fell during our tramp. We left Te Anau in glorious sunshine, despite the grim weather forecast for the following 3 days. We caught the boat across Te Anau Lake, which is the only way to access the track. As well as the 40 independent trampers who are allowed to start the track each day (huts are 40 person capacity) there is also a guided group every day - they stay in their own huts, fully catered with hot showers and WINE and BEER! We amused ourselves by betting which ones would make it to the end of the trek, as some of them looked as though they could hardly walk upstairs let alone cope with 33.5miles of tramping - including the traverse of the Mckinnon pass at 1100m. The first day is rather a soft introduction; you leave the boat at Glade Wharf and walk about 5k to the hut where we spent the first night. The DOC ranger there was one of the most informative and energetic ones we have encountered so far; he organised a nature walk which was interesting enough to counteract the sandflies, his hut talk taught us more about the wildlife of NZ and the conservation challenges facing the DOC than any other source of information and, to cap it all, he took those who were interested on a night walk to look at a colony of glow worms. They were like a constellation of stars hanging at eye level. Amazing. The next morning we awoke to rain - the forecast was, as is usually the case with poor ones, accurate. We had a 16k hike up the side of the Clinton river, climbing to 600m to the Mintaro hut where we would sleep that night. We took lots of photos which served to show how wet we were. Sadly the cloud base was so low that views were limited to the odd glimpse of a peak, a few capped with ice fields and snake-like waterfalls cascading into the valley. The hut had a wood stove, which was pressed into service to dry out 40 pairs of boot, coats, trousers etc. Guess what the weather was doing the following morning? correct. We had a 500m ascent through cloud up to the MacKinnon Pass, where a memorial to Mackinnon - who was the person who forged the track across to Milford Sound and led the first guided tours of it - loomed large through the mirk. It was a bit draughty by now, so we paused long enough to take a photo and one of Kate by 12-second drop (there's a view out there somewhere!) before starting the knee-jarring 970m descent (a quick stop to use the loo with the best view in NZ; well that day we had to take their word for it). We took a detour from the main route to take a look at the highest waterfall in NZ. The Sutherland Falls drop 580m from Lake Quill in 3 stages. Spectacular - no doubt even more so thanks to the recent rain. We had a little excitement on our arrival at the Dumpling Hut. A walker from the previous days group had become lost and disorientated in the rainforest. We had picked up the cries for help and were called on to assist the ranger to locate the walker and Paul stayed with him until the rescue helicopter arrived. Luckily he had no more than cuts and bruises (the walker not Paul). We had a 18km wet walk out on the last day to catch the boat across to Milford Sound. The walk was punctuated by views of cascades swollen by the rain and avalanche paths, strewn with rock falls and broken trees. Sandfly Ppoint, at the end of the walk lived up to its name and Milford Sound looked moody and magnificent in the rain and cloud(see photo). We were glad to get back to a hot shower and a reunion with the food and wine of the Fat Duck in Te Anau!
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