Milford, sound mate!

We left Queenstown for Te Anau and when we arrived gathered our transport and hut passes from the Department of Conservation HQ. Afterwards we headed to the Ranch, a local pub with a pool table before we getting ourselves an early night in preparation for the adventure over the next few days. The Milford track is a 53.5km route found in the heart of spectacular Fiordland National Park, part of Te Wahipounamu (the World Heritage Area in South West NZ). The itinerary for the trip included two boat journeys to and from the beginning and end of the track and return buses to Te Anau. The four day walk is described as one of the finest in the world, and is classed as an 'easy' tramp by the DOC leaflet. No problemo...

On day one we left the Top 10 Holiday park in a hurry, as we woke with little time to pack, shower and by the last few supplies from the local store before reporting to DOC HQ at 9.30am. All of us were pretty sure however that we were very well prepared with everything we could possibly imagine needing in the scenic but barren Fiordland National Park, so we parked the car in the long stay car park after one last listen to "Sky Sports News" ( aka 'Surface to Air' by the Chemical Brothers - a dull song that Ryan and Peter seem to love, no idea at all why) and boarded the bus to Te Anau Downs.

Te Anau Downs is little more than a few low hills on the edge of Lake Te Anau where a lonely jetty and a small car park are the only reminders of civilisation. From here we joined our fellow Milford Track trampers and took the hour long ferry boat to Glade Wharf. Disembarkment here marked the start of two things; the track and the attachment and fondness for our 70kg backpacks. The days walk took us past Glade House and the largest of the suspension bridges on the trip over the Clinton River. The trek continued for about one hour through an unimpressive beech forest along the banks of the river to the Clinton Hut. I can't remember who was leading the way, but whoever it was established 'Marching pace' as a suitable speed for the three of us to undertake the track. Walking at this speed we easily arrived at the hut first, finding three bunks at one end of the first dorm and scouting around the other two buildings, kitchen and toilet, well before anyone else arrived. It was about this time, 2 o'clockish, when we all felt hungry and realised to our dismay that the huts didn't have any kettles or cooking utensils whatsoever. Bad doo. We had no way of cooking any food for the next four days (plus Pete had forgotten his cutlery bought especially for the occasion and Ryan hadn't bothered yet managed to rustle up a dirty old fork out of nowhere). However after a thorough search of the kitchen, on a dusty corner shelf, we discovered a battered and well used frying pan which saved the day. This same pan was then used for every meal on the trip and still remains with us.

With absolutely nothing to do in the huts and 5 hours to kill until we could sleep Pete and Ryan mooched off back down the track to a wetlands board walk and I read. When they came back we found a jigsaw puzzle and did that until we were totally bored, awesome! 12 hours sleep ensued from which we were awoken by the other trampers in our bunkroom who had the amazing ability of making tremendous amounts of noise without actually doing anything.

Day two took us from Clinton Hut again following the Clinton River to its source at Lake Mintaro. Here is the Mintaro Hut at the base of Mackinnon Pass. This section of the track passed through sections of forest and crossed many small streams which run down the mountains that rise sharply on either side of the valley and into the Clinton River. Along the way we caught our first glimpses of Mackinnon Pass and the Pompolona ice field high above us as well as seeing the first of many waterfalls, Hirere Falls. We lunch a short way of the track at Hidden Lake, a totally unremarkable lake at the edge of a mountain with water running into it from small waterfalls. Sounds awesome but with so much happening in the scenery around us it wasn't all that impressive. From here we set off marching again overtaking the walkers who had set off earlier than us. At this point we realised how far we had to go. This 16.5km section of walk took roughly four and a half hours, although the guides say six to seven, and our packs were getting heavy. To make matters even worse for him, Pete discovered that the pains in his feet were blisters. However we continued on, with little choice, and as the vegetation began to change reflecting the alpine climate we reached Mintaro Hut, again first. That night we read and socialised with the trampers, 39 in total, who were tramping the same itinerary as us.

The third day was the most grueling. From Mintaro Hut there is a back-breaking, leg-burning, lung-busting ascent zig-zagging up Mackinnon Pass for 2 hours to the Mackinnon Memorial and the highest point of the track, Pass Shelter at 1110m. The weather had so far been superb, fine yet chilly with clear skies and the perfect temperatures for walking. However although on the way up there were some pretty special photo opps back down Clinton Canyon to Lake Mintaro mist descended upon the summit of the saddle between the two valleys and spoilt the world famous views which we had toiled to come and see. It was also much colder up here and we spent a while in Pass Shelter having lunch before the 8km downhill section, 970m over rocky morraine deposits to meet the Roaring Burn in the next valley. From here we followed the river down to Dumpling Hut which we again arrived at as one of the first groups. As views had been so disappointing from the top due to a low-lying cloud which had hung around for a couple of hours, Ryan and I came up with the awe-inspiring idea of running, yes running, back up the mountain to the top of the pass where the skies were now clear as the mist had been burnt of. Pete's blisters were hurting him too much and he definately wasn't up for any sort of walk, nevermind run. So Ryan and I set off, running for half an hour back along the to the turn off for the Sutherland Falls side trip. Here we nearly collapsed from exhaustion, and gave up on our desperate and ridiculas atempt to witness those spectacular views out towards Mitre Peak on Milford Sound that the Milford track is famous for. Instead we choose to do the one and a half hour side walk to Sutherland Falls, which at 580m are claimed to be the tallest waterfalls in New Zealand. This was the best part of the trip for me by far. The power, speed, size and force of the water cascading over the cliff face in three sections was a sight to behold. In my eagerness however to get closer to the falls I tried to circle the pool at the bottom and get behind the falls at the base, which Ross the Hut Ranger had told us was possible, but I only managed to become soaked through and freezing cold. On the way back to Dumpling Hut we met Jack and his son (whose name I forget) who were very slow and only just making their way down from Pass Shelter. This was not suprising considering Jack is 83 years old and has a left leg which is totally useless and in his own words "would be better off it was prosthetic but its alright because I've got these two sticks to prop me up". One word - effort. Anyway as we passed they said they wouldn't be able to make it to Sutherland Falls because it was getting late and Jack was tired, so I tried to make the waterfalls sound uninspiring. Despite these efforts upon hearing that his son had already done the track 20 years earlier and had seen the falls, Ryan said when asked his opinion of the falls, "They're probably the best thing i've ever seen!". In all honestly he is probably right.

The final day was similar to the first. Following the channel of the Arthur River out into Milford Sound. On this day the weather couldn't hold out any longer and heavy rain clouds dampened our spirits as we trudged with lactic acid filled muscles to the finish. We hadn't showered in four days and our bodies had marched at the extreme for too long. The boat journey in the Sound was pretty good but then the cloud had descended even lower and covered the tops of all the surrounding mountains, yet again spoiling the views. I felt a massive sense of achievement having done the trek although i was glad to get back to the holiday park where there were warm showers and comfortable beds. No way am I coming back when I'm 83.

Hope everyones having fun...

Tom