New Zealand adventurism: the Milford Track

While the students gathered on campus for start of semester and the belladonna lilies prepared to burst through the dry Adelaide summer ground, there I was feeling like I’d won the prize, “I’m on the Milford Track!!”

A burst of next-trip energy saw me arriving at Fiordland National Park on this flagship of New Zealand tramps, reputed to be the “finest walk in the world”.  My nephew Steve was with me again and there we sat on the decking of Clinton Hut, the sun drying various pieces of gear after our Day One shower.  It had been a short 5 kilometre hop from Glade Wharf.  At 5 o’clock our warden Ross led a nature walk to the Clinton River, sharing interesting stories about the old telegraph line that used to exist for the track huts and pointing out land slips, bellbird calls, and berries either poisonous or medicinal.  We tasted pepper leaves too.  So far everything was pretty chill, which also had something to do with the excessive amounts of lavender oil I put on a hanky in my sleeping bag.  It was Valentine’s Day and I noticed couples sharing cards and being cute – this didn’t deter my focus on loving Fiordland National Park, maybe in the honeymoon phase.

Steve and me starting at Glade Wharf

Two days into the Milford Track and I was glad I’d had my finger on the mouse at 7:05am back on 19^th June, snapping up places as the bookings opened.  It didn’t take long to meet the tame bush robins in the mossy forest, so inquisitive and waiting for us to stir up bugs and worms.  One hopped onto my boot for a second which is ridiculous!  Mile markers graced the trail to honour the history of the track, with kilometres shown too.  And with a daily limit of around 90 people a day, comprising both guided groups and independent Department of Conversation hut trampers such as us, the trail wasn’t overcrowded.

Another tame South Island bush robin

We saw our first wekas of the trip, a mother with two big juveniles, walking along the track ahead of us.  Along the Clinton River West Branch we experienced the classic Fiordland glacier-carved U-shaped valleys and they were huge.  Epic ribbons of waterfalls came down their sides.  Paradise shelducks were on the river with their striking plumage, the male having a black-feathered head and the female white.  One of our fellow trampers thought they heard a kiwi call but, actually, that was me closing my rucksack. Kiwi the soft toy squawked which I had fun explaining! 

The approach to Mintaro Hut was all about rain, hill climbing and weariness.  Then we enjoyed the humour of Clive the warden’s talk.  The room of around 40 of us were in stitches over his tale of Milford Track pioneers Quintin McKinnon and Ernest Mitchell and their pompolona Italian pancakes, with tallow candles to grease the pan, in 1888.  Clive’s ultra-dry humour made it so very funny.

Steve and I woke up in good time for the Big Day.  Kea parrots are playful – while packing I was face to face with one through the bunkroom window grooming its thick feathers, priceless.  They flew through the trees at breakfast and truly sounded like they were laughing.  We climbed towards Mackinnon Pass on an excellent track while I whinged about my problems back at home; Steve graciously listened and gave words of support.  With that out of my system we burst above the tree line and the views were amazing.  Often the pass is covered in cloud so we were lucky and could see Mount Balloon on one side and Mount Hart on the other.  There was a memorial cairn to Quintin McKinnon who died in a boat accident on Lake Te Anau.

Good morning kea!!

Views from Mackinnon Pass

We ate scroggin and made ‘wow’ noises at the sheer drop on the other side of the pass.  Gentian flowers and buttercups abounded, and the wind was cold but not extreme 😀.  There were hanging gardens and little tarns nearby and perennial slithers of snow on the tops.  We stepped among green and gold tussock and alpine shrubs with grey rock backdrops.  The Clinton and Arthur Valleys dropped down intensely in the truly U-shaped ways of this landscape.  Half an hour past the memorial we were enjoying energy bars in the shelter. 

Kiwi looks back on the U-shaped Clinton Valley

Excellent weather for Mackinnon Pass (1154 m elevation)

The descent was 970 metres and seemed to go on for an age.  There was real enjoyment in sidling the alpine slopes at first where there is avalanche risk during snow times and pretty waterfalls in summer.  Back down among the beech trees, I knew tiredness was setting in alongside the torrent of Roaring Burn when I threw a tantie removing my thermal longs from under my shorts.  I felt my brain jolt within my skull on a few steeper rock steps.

Alpine vegetation

We left our big packs at Quintin Shelter for the Sutherland Falls side trip.  While I ranted to Steve about how disappointingly slow I was, our fellow trampers passed us on their return from the falls with the smiley words “refreshing” and “sooo much fun!”  This must be pretty special, I thought, being a 580-metre waterfall and all.  Within a kilometre we sensed the air was as fresh as a dewy daisy and then came the thunderous noise of water colliding with rocks and lake.  Arriving at the viewpoint I had a wonderful visual of Steve in his black waterproof, dancing in the hectic spray and shouting.  What a powerful display of nature.  Later Steve mused about people standing in front of this mighty waterfall 700 years ago, perhaps worshipping it.  The three flights of waterfall have to be seen to be believed, to get a sense of its enormity.  Then we turned around to watch the rapids hurry down the valley.

Sutherland Falls from a distance

The Sutherland Falls experience gave me a second wind for the last hour of ruckie-hauling to Dumpling Hut, arriving after a 10-hour day on the track.  Exhausted!  With a belly full of trekking cuisine we chattered with our fellow Milford people, such like-minded friendly folk.  There was Tony from Melbourne who shared Nepalese outdoorsy stories and his YouTube clips to look up, young Tegan who liked to swim in the rivers, Leah and Nola from Alberta who (like me) fancied singing on the trail, a cheerful Chinese couple who shared the kea window moment with me, and the four Kiwi ladies who left the kids at home for some wilderness time.

Day four was the last day and more glorious weather greeted us.  We were to meet the boat at Sandfly Point at 3pm - 18 kilometres of Milford Track lay ahead of us so I was a little nervous.  But we started early enough and I ate snacks, saving a lunch of biscuits, salami and cheese for my arrival at Sandfly Point. 

Track love 💚

The track followed the Arthur River on gently undulating terrain. We checked out Bell Rock, so-named because the water has carved out a cave large enough to stand in.  Steve saw spiders inside but I didn’t.  Bell Rock was next to the torrent of Mackay Falls, a fine snack stop, but then we had to keep moving.  The valley opened up more for views of Lake Ada.  I loved it when the beech trees on the edges of high slopes were backlit by the morning sun.  At noon I broke out my song repertoire, stopping occasionally to throw the rucksack off and roll my shoulders (which the bitey sandflies loved).  Steve went on ahead.  It was a stretch of easy terrain for reflection and eventually exhausting all the songs!  They took my mind off the inevitable back soreness from pack carrying. 

The Arthur River

Our Milford journey went well with one minor exception: on the last morning Steve was stung near his ear by a wasp which was caught in his beanie.  The sting was red and irritated but thankfully he’s not overly allergic to wasps, being close to his throat and all.  These moments remind us of how remote the bush is when things go wrong.

Giants Gate!  This was another hectic waterfall, now within day-trip distance of Sandfly Point.  I hoofed it past a group of people going for a swim.  The mile markers became fatter and fatter.

Steve reached Sandfly Point about half an hour before me and relaxed in the “cage” keeping the sandflies out. I was jubilant to have arrived by 2:30 to eat my lunch (it tasted so good!)  Cruising across the water to Milford Village, it was time to let the robins, laughing keas, beech forests, alpine passes and comedian wardens settle into memory.  Cheerio to the planet’s iconic flagship Kiwi tramp!

The remainder of the holiday was spent living it up, and Dan and Simon joined us too.  It was peppered with these hot five South Island picks!

Southern Discoveries Discover More Cruise, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi

Underwater Observatory!  See long generous waterfalls pouring down steep sides and water falling on the boat deck for fun.

Climbing Queenstown

Nice climbing on solid schist with Lake Wakatipu as your backdrop.  Being guided, I didn’t have to stress about route finding, equipment and all that.

Waiatoto River Safari, West Coast

Go fast in a jet boat away from touristy areas with an awesome knowledgeable guide! Cruise the mountains and the river mouth in one ride, and alight the boat to walk in the forest.

Okarito Kiwi Tours

Receive your training on how to walk very quietly in the Okarito bush at night. There’s a high likelihood of a kiwi coming to the trail after much patience like Fancy the Kiwi did for us!!

Underworld Adventures Underworld Rafting, Charleston

In the Nile River cave system, dry-land me tested my comfort zone by putting on a wetsuit and carrying a rubber tube though the beautiful caves.  Then we reached the river.  Floating along staring up at the glow worm ceiling was so worth it.

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