New Zealand: Milford Track (Dec 2018)
Posted: July 10th, 2019, 7:27 am
Only 6 months later....
Great Walk #2 - Milford Track - “the finest walk in the world”
Totally lived up to the hype. The Milford Track is in Fiordland, where it averages 182 days of rain a year. “Bus stops” are built into the track for hikers to wait for flooded streams to subside enough to cross. The track was scouted and built to take tourists from Lake Te Anau to the Milford Sound, following the Clinton River up to its source at Lake Mintaro, up and over Mackinnon Pass, then following the Arthur River and its many waterfalls down to the Milford Sound. Lush valleys, craggy cliffs, alpine flowers, birds, giant eels, scenic vistas and waterfalls abound.
Also SANDFLIES. Legend tells that the god Tu-te-raki-whanoa had just finished carving out what is now called the Milford Sound - carving it with his adze - and it was amazing... so much so that everyone just kind of stopped and stood around in awe. The goddess Hine-nui-te-pō decided that such a beautiful place was too tempting and if people spent too much time there, they’d make a mess. So she created namu (sandflies) to encourage them to move along. And that is why one always finds sandflies in the most beautiful places.
The Milford Track is quite beautiful and we were lucky enough to walk it with only 5 minutes of rain in the 4 days we were on the track (also over Christmas, which just made it more special). The waterfalls were maybe not quite as spectacular as they would have been during wetter weather, but still impressive. For me, the highlights really were the birds. This is an area that has been aggressively treated for predators, both with ariel drops of mammal-specific poison baits (kills the mice and rolls higher up the food chain to the stoats and weasels) and with trap lines. So there were so many more birds than we saw anywhere other than the pest-free sanctuaries. There were weka (think carnivourous chicken), robins (NZ robin is small, rotund, grey and fearless), kaka (forest parrots) and kea (cheeky alpine parrots, the ones who eat tourist cars), paradise ducks and whio (alpine ducks). Kiwi resident in the area, but we didn’t see them, only heard faint “kiiiiiwiiii” calls late at night. Whio were a special treat for me - they live in alpine streams like an ouzel/dipper - there was a pair high up on the Clinton River with little dabbling ducklings! Kea love to pull/tug/destroy - we were warned to tie our boots together because they can carry off one, but two are too heavy. Spent a delightful morning watching them explore the deck of the Mintaro Hut, rescued a pair of socks, made rock and grass sculptures for them to destroy (this is an approved enrichment activity - no feeding or giving of human objects).
The rangers were older and quirkier than any of the others we met. Well-steeped in natural and local history, their hut talks (and nature walks) were informative and engaging. They also do an incredible of trail maintenance - the Milford Track is one of the best trails I’ve ever walked on, especially considering the terrain (challenging, flood-prone) and weather - wet (~250 in/year), severe. There is a LOT of water coming down and flowing over the trail, occasional earthquakes and “slips” (landslides).
I was surprised at the solitude we found. We spent each night with the same 40 people and there were also ~40 hikers on a guided walk (private, showers and meals provided) that we never even saw (although we took advantage of their tea/billy huts, stopping for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate in a sandfly-free environment. However, we would walk all day, rarely seeing a soul until people started to trickle into the hut in the afternoon. Evenings we’d swim, chat with other trampers, listen to the hut talk, play cards, read books and magazines curated by the rangers or left behind. A nice mix of solitude in nature and convivial company.
All the gold stars. Bird life and waterfalls - double stars!
Great Walk #2 - Milford Track - “the finest walk in the world”
Totally lived up to the hype. The Milford Track is in Fiordland, where it averages 182 days of rain a year. “Bus stops” are built into the track for hikers to wait for flooded streams to subside enough to cross. The track was scouted and built to take tourists from Lake Te Anau to the Milford Sound, following the Clinton River up to its source at Lake Mintaro, up and over Mackinnon Pass, then following the Arthur River and its many waterfalls down to the Milford Sound. Lush valleys, craggy cliffs, alpine flowers, birds, giant eels, scenic vistas and waterfalls abound.
Also SANDFLIES. Legend tells that the god Tu-te-raki-whanoa had just finished carving out what is now called the Milford Sound - carving it with his adze - and it was amazing... so much so that everyone just kind of stopped and stood around in awe. The goddess Hine-nui-te-pō decided that such a beautiful place was too tempting and if people spent too much time there, they’d make a mess. So she created namu (sandflies) to encourage them to move along. And that is why one always finds sandflies in the most beautiful places.
The Milford Track is quite beautiful and we were lucky enough to walk it with only 5 minutes of rain in the 4 days we were on the track (also over Christmas, which just made it more special). The waterfalls were maybe not quite as spectacular as they would have been during wetter weather, but still impressive. For me, the highlights really were the birds. This is an area that has been aggressively treated for predators, both with ariel drops of mammal-specific poison baits (kills the mice and rolls higher up the food chain to the stoats and weasels) and with trap lines. So there were so many more birds than we saw anywhere other than the pest-free sanctuaries. There were weka (think carnivourous chicken), robins (NZ robin is small, rotund, grey and fearless), kaka (forest parrots) and kea (cheeky alpine parrots, the ones who eat tourist cars), paradise ducks and whio (alpine ducks). Kiwi resident in the area, but we didn’t see them, only heard faint “kiiiiiwiiii” calls late at night. Whio were a special treat for me - they live in alpine streams like an ouzel/dipper - there was a pair high up on the Clinton River with little dabbling ducklings! Kea love to pull/tug/destroy - we were warned to tie our boots together because they can carry off one, but two are too heavy. Spent a delightful morning watching them explore the deck of the Mintaro Hut, rescued a pair of socks, made rock and grass sculptures for them to destroy (this is an approved enrichment activity - no feeding or giving of human objects).
The rangers were older and quirkier than any of the others we met. Well-steeped in natural and local history, their hut talks (and nature walks) were informative and engaging. They also do an incredible of trail maintenance - the Milford Track is one of the best trails I’ve ever walked on, especially considering the terrain (challenging, flood-prone) and weather - wet (~250 in/year), severe. There is a LOT of water coming down and flowing over the trail, occasional earthquakes and “slips” (landslides).
I was surprised at the solitude we found. We spent each night with the same 40 people and there were also ~40 hikers on a guided walk (private, showers and meals provided) that we never even saw (although we took advantage of their tea/billy huts, stopping for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate in a sandfly-free environment. However, we would walk all day, rarely seeing a soul until people started to trickle into the hut in the afternoon. Evenings we’d swim, chat with other trampers, listen to the hut talk, play cards, read books and magazines curated by the rangers or left behind. A nice mix of solitude in nature and convivial company.
All the gold stars. Bird life and waterfalls - double stars!