18th - 21st April Milford Sound Trek

Day 1: Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut 240m - 5km (1.5 hours)
Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut 600m - 16.5km (5 hours)
Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut 150m via Mackinnon Pass (1069m) - 18km (7 hours)
Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point - 18km (5 hours)
Total: 53.5km (33.5 miles)

The Milford trek is in the heart of the spectacular Fiordland National Park of southwest of the south island. The trek is around 53km following the rivers Clinton and Arthur, to Milford Sound. The trek can only be walked as a four day/three night package, starting at the head of Lake Te Anau and finishing at Sandfly Point. A maximum of 40 people start the trek each day, and you need to stay in specific huts that are ready for your arrival. There's no food available in the huts (you have to carry it with you), while only provide bunk beads (no heating), gas cookers to cook your food, toilets and running cold water (no showers).

The morning of the walk, we were hoping for good weather, but as the Fiordlands get rain something like 320 days - up to nine metres a year, so if it's not raining, it's very well going to rain shortly. And it did. We had to put on our rain gear right from the start, which is a pain to get wet before you've even started the trek.

Day 1: Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut

We met at the DOC (Department of Conservation) to catch the bus to Te Anau Downs where we were to get a boat to the starting point. It was pretty damn cold on the boat, which took around an hour. If it had been a clear day, we would have been able to have a great view of the surrounding mountains, but then it was also nice to see it in its moody state, with snow on the peaks.

On getting off, we had to dip our boots into disinfectant to make sure we weren't spreading any alien spores/seeds. The start of the trek was very easy with a wide, flat path. Straight away we came across the wildlife, a cute tiny, Fan-tailed bird introduced itself and flapped in front of our faces and around us, talking at us. It was a really strange experience, that something so small, could be so curious and not afraid of us.

It was quite apparent right from the start how wet this area got. The ground and all the trees were covered in moss and lichen, and it was like an Emerald city.

We quickly passed Glade House, where guided walkers have lunch and stay the night (what luxury!), then crossed the first and longest of 9 suspension bridges before making our way along the Clinton River to our first hut (Clinton Hut - very imaginative). The river was really clear and the most amazing colour - like spearmint colour of a glacier. Not sure how it can be that colour…

It was a gentle introduction to the walk as it only took over an hour to get there, so we had lunch (a cup-of-soup, and a Tracker bar), then grabbed a good bunk before the others arrived. We had lots of time to kill so we went exploring down by the river and into the Wetlands area.

In the evening, the hut ranger (as each hut is managed in the summer months), gave a small nature tour/talk, which took up some of our time, as we had plenty!

After dinner (of freeze dried stuff - very light, but not so tasty), we played cards with a guy from Germany, before going down the trek in the dark with a girl from Japan and German guy, to see the Glow Worms in a muddy bank, under a tree. It was bed early (10ish) as we had a long day and an early start in the morning.

It's pretty hard to sleep in a hut that has twenty people in it, and neither Vik or Carl got that much sleep, especially when some people felt the need to get up at the stupid time of 6am (still dark)!

Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut

We were some of the last people to leave as we couldn't be bothered to get up, so we had a leisurely breakfast of coffee from a tube (instant coffee with milk and sugar in a squeezable paste), and a Tracker bar.

We set of about 9am and the weather was fine (cold) but cloudy, which cleared to show snow. We were still following the river, so we didn't gain much height at first, so it was a little boring. We crossed many creeks with no water, and we could see that it would be a hard/wet ford through the water after a good downpour.

Our lunch stop (another Tracker bar) was at Hidden Lake, which incidentally, we found this time. When we got back onto the track, there was one of the walkers who had binoculars looking up at a pass that we were going to do tomorrow, it looked high up.

We saw many small birds, Tom t***, South Island Robins, Rock Wrens and a Green Rifleman - all very friendly and curious.

It started to rain as we got near to the Mintaro Hut, and were very glad we had got there when we did. This hut was one big building with kitchen and bunks downstairs, and more bunks in the eves. We thought we'd been clever by grabbing the bunks by the stove's chimney where it would be warm, but Sod's Law, the New Zealand Champion Snorer took the bunk next to us. Urh, didn't get much sleep again, but Carl and other people found it funny (giggling loudly), but Vik didn't.

One strange thing we had to do in this hut, was to make sure our boots were safely placed on pegs up on the wall, and we weren't allowed to leave anything loose outside. The reason for this was because of the Kea - the only NZ parrot, which lives in Alpine areas. It's notorious for causing havoc where humans are concerned. They love to wreck anything left around by pulling it apart, and torment with clever little tricks - obviously very amusing when it's a novelty and it's not your stuff.

Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut

Tired again, we had breakfast around 8ish which was a freeze-dried cooked breakfast (including beans!) and chocolate. The Keas had come to see us, and were making a racket outside with their unique screeching. Unfortunately for them, there was nothing to steal or wreck, so they didn't hang around long.

We were just about last out (again), setting off around 8:40am. It was shocking to hear that some people set off around 5ish in the dead of night. Apparently they spent 2 hours watching the sun come up, up on the pass. Must have been cold.

The weather was good, clear and fresh, perfect for seeing the mountains when going up the pass. It was a steady zig-zag up, nothing compared to Annapurna. We arrived at the top of the pass around 11am, as the sun shining down on us for the first time in the trek.

The views from the pass were amazing (see pics), especially the view over the 12 second drop cliff. We milled around for a bit taking pictures and just admiring the view before setting off further up to the pass shelter at 1069m - the highest point of our trek, before descending down the other side and under the Jervious Glacier.

It was all down hill from here (970m), and it got to your legs a bit especially the steps down beside the Roaring Burn and past Dudleigh Falls.

We arrived at the Quintin Hut (guided trek hut) around lunch time and we thrilled to find apples and tea and coffee for us. It was our first bit of fresh food in 3 days, and it was nice to have a cup of tea.

We were able to leave our packs, while we took a detour to the Sutherland Falls, arguably the highest waterfall in NZ, dropping 580m (1904 feet) from Lake Quill in three stages. It took us around 45 mins, but it was like floating up without our packs on. It was well worth the trip, and as we were some of the first there, we had the place to ourselves.

It was getting quite late (the longest day we'd had so far), by the time we got to Dumpling Hut, we had about an hour, drinking our squeezy coffee, to bathe in the sun before it went sunk behind the mountain. It then got bloody freezing.

Our last night in the bunks and we had a choice of 4 rooms, we picked a room thinking what are the chances of getting Mr. Champion Snorer, but of course, we discovered later, that our 3 in 4 chance of a quiet night's sleep, was against us - Sods Bloody Law!

The ranger that evening, who seemed to appear everywhere (as we saw him at Sutherland Falls), gave us a talk about the area, the next day's track, and the wildlife, for around an hour. He obviously misses human contact! It was a bit like been at school again, as he had a way for lecturing us. Oh well, at least it passed the time and he did tell a good story, especially about the naughty Keas.

Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point

There were two boats back to civilization which you could get at the end of the trek, one being at 2pm and the other 3:30pm. We'd booked the 2pm (which was nearly a year ago now), so had to set off pretty early, which was around 8am, as it was the longest walk of 18km.

The weather had started off dark and grey, and it got considerably worse as the day went on. It was quite an easy walk though, as we went along the Arthur River. We crossed many suspension bridges and saw many impressive waterfalls; Mackay, and Giant Gate Falls being the best.

We didn't rush the walk, but we didn't stop for lunch and finally arrived at Sandfly Point around 1pm, giving us plenty of time to nibble on our Tracker bars and rest in the shelter from the pouring rain. We were entertained by a chatty little Fan-Tail which would leave a couple of lads alone.

A tiny boat arrived perfectly on time, and we all squeezed in to keep dry. On a good day, it would have been an impressive boat trip across the Milford Sound, but alas we couldn't see a damn thing!

It was nice to find the lovely warm bus waiting for us when we got off. It was a long 2 hour journey, but it was good to be in the dry and warmth. It would have been a very impressive sight, if you could see through the condensation of the bus windows, but when you did get a glimpse, it was quite amazing to see all the water pouring down the sheer cliffs all around us, and the snow on the tops.

We finally arrived at Te Anau and had to walk 20mins to the campsite in the rain. We were both so looking forward to a hot shower, change of clothes, and a meal which wasn't freeze-dried! We had steak and chips at the local restaurant - bliss!