Milford Track: Rain, Waterfalls and New Friends

It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. 

- Sir Edmund Hillary (Kiwi mountaineer & first climber to reach the summit of Everest ) 

Milford Track highlights album

The Milford Track across the fjordlands in Southern New Zealand is billed as “the finest walk in the world.”  (Although I’m not sure I would call a 4 day, 53.5km (33.2 mile) trek a “walk”).  Jim booked the trek almost a year ago- almost immediately after we bought our around the world tickets- to reserve us spaces as “independent hikers” at the 40-person Department of Conservation huts along the track.  The other alternative was to book a guided walk, that provided food and showers and cost over 10 times as much (NZ$150 vs. $2000).  The kids don’t even take showers anyway, so it was an easy choice.

Milford Track profile

We're off!

Honestly, I had a fair amount of apprehension about the trek.  I'm all for great scenery, but 3 days walking 10+ miles/6+ hours, with one day over a 1000m (3300ft) elevation change pass with a pack is pretty intimidating.  We also had some uneasiness about Liam.  10 is the minimum age for the hike (Liam is 10).  He’s a great hiker, but doesn’t always want to hike. Being with Liam when he doesn't want to be doing what he's doing is like getting your soul sucked out of you while being crushed by a boulder.  Oh, and the weather forecast a few weeks before showed freezing temperatures and 70kph (45mph) winds on the pass.  Yikes.

As the hike start date came closer, the weather report showed warmer temperatures, but lots and lots of rain.  When we showed up at the Department of Conservation station at Te Anau on Saturday to pick up our tickets for Monday they told us that they flown some people out by helicopter, and weren't sure if the trip was going to be canceled for future days.  The pass was getting 100mm (~4inches of rain) every 6 hours for 2 days (!) but things were looking better by Tuesday.  On Sunday, the DOC still wasn’t sure about Monday, but said that it would be possible that parts of the trail would be flooded up to our waist. The DOC had a discussion to see if we should even attempt it with a 10 year old (umm, what about a wimpy 43 year old?) and ultimately said that it was up to us based on if we thought he could handle it- Liam said walking through a river would make walking that far “fun and less boring”.

Sunday we forged ahead and picked up our rented sleeping bags, cooking pot and trekking poles.  We decided to get rain pants as well.  Jim and his masterful packing skills got everything into 2 big packs and a  day pack.  The packs were heavy, but at least they’d get lighter as we ate the food, and Liam wouldn’t have to carry anything.

Giving up on keeping the shoes dry

Monday morning we arrived at the DOC office to find out the trip was on!  We took the ferry about 1.5 hours to top the of Lake Te Anau and we were off. The first day is only 5k (1.5 hours).  It was pouring, but it is the rainforest after all.  We set off with a good attitude and a new love for rain pants.  One advantage of rain is it creates a continued maze of waterfalls that appear on every mountainside.    We crossed swing bridges and sloshed through the trail that was a toddler’s huge puddle-filled dream surrounded by mossy trees along a rushing river.  When the path turned into a river about 8 inches deep we gave up on the illusion of trying to keep our feet dry and plunged in literately and figuratively  Onward.

We arrived at the first hut early (before 2:00) and fairly soaked.  The 20 bed bunkroom was comfortable and we were able to sit in the cooking area by the fire.  We were regretting that we didn’t bring flip-flops, but a few sprints in the rain between buildings in wet shoes made us appreciate we weren’t in a tent.  We spent the afternoon learning how to play the card game 500 with a nice Australian couple from Melbourne.  Later in the afternoon, the group from the 2^nd ferry descended, including a group of 18 Koreans who swooped in draped all of their wet clothes everywhere and started to efficiently make an impressively complicated and pungent meal (we had sandwiches).  Also in the group was a family of 5 from Western Australia with 3 kids (boys 16, 14 and a girl, almost 11).  Hallelujah. One of the trekkers was a ~70ish year old woman who was doing the trek for the 4^th time.   She’s Swiss, of course.  We also met several Israelis who were traveling after getting out of the army. The evening was spent making new friends and listening to the ranger talk about the flora and fauna of the area.  The ranger was impressed that Liam knew why the flowers in the region are white (they are pollinated by moths who have an easier time seeing white at night) and the only mammal indigenous to New Zealand (bats).  Homeschool win.

Day 2: 16.5km, (10.3miles)  Early wake up due to the Koreans getting up at 4:30 for a fancy breakfast and 7am departure.  Ah, communal living.  After the deluge of the day before, we welcomed the drizzle.  We walked through the rainforest delighting in the birdsong.  Eagle-eyed Xander even spotted a Kea bird by the orange under its wings.  We would later learn that these “cheeky” alpine parrots would take/destroy any gear that was left outside of the huts—including eating the rubber off of hiking poles and stealing hiking boots (can you imagine?)—so we were instructed to tie our shoes together and hang them up high.  Not a danger I had anticipated.  Eventually, the path opened up to a prairie dwarfed by peaks with cascading waterfalls in all directions.  Around lunch we combined with the Australian family and a charming 29-year-old from South Carolina.  It was great for us all to have other people to talk to and walk with.  Xander carried the pack almost the whole day, including the big uphill at the end.  Hooray.  In the hut we played games with our new friends.  Many of the group (including Xander) were asleep by 6pm.
Day 3: 14km- Touted as the hardest day due to the going up and over the pass and back down 1000m.  Another cloudy (but less wet) morning saw us heading up the mountain-- kids in front, moms in the back.  Three cheers for the hiking poles! After a surprisingly not-so-awful 2 hours walking up, we made it to the top of McKinnon pass, left to imagine what surely are beautiful vistas that were shrouded in clouds.  We stayed long enough to add layers (those extra hats and gloves we bought at the goodwill store earlier int he trip came in really handy) and say hi to the Kea parrot that met us at the top.  We quickly made our way to the shelter, where we entered the "independent hikers" side of the hut, warmed up and shared lunch and hot chocolate (that we made ourselves).  We made Liam peek behind the separate “guided walkers” door-  they had food prepared for them.  We think maybe caviar ;)  The howling winds and sideways drizzle made me leery to head back out for four hours of grueling downhill.

And the clouds part

 However, 15 minutes down, the wind slowed and the clouds parted to reveal the river valley far below—proving (once again) the power of relativity.  The walk down was long and uneven, but gravity is good.  The boys even walked an extra 1.5 hours to visit a huge waterfall (!) and I fought the pressure of “FOMO” (fear of missing out) to enjoy a break basking in the sunshine.   That night we enjoyed our second dehydrated dinner (the Koreans were still making handmade sushi) and fought off sand flies- The bane of the trek, these awful “flying fire ants” cause welts (for some, namely me) that wake you up itching in the middle of the night for days. In Maori legend, when Te-Hine-nui-to-po, goddess of death, visited the spectacular landscape of Milford Sound, she feared the vista was so wonderful that people would want to live there forever. To remind humans of their mortality, she freed namu (sandflies), at Te Namu-a-Te-Hine-nui-te-po (Sandfly Point), at the end of the Milford Track.&nbsp Well played, Te-Hine-nui-to-po, well played.

Swing bridge

Day 4: 18km.  After our last early morning wake up from the Koreans, we had a relatively early start (8am) to hike the last day out to Sandfly point.  Although long, the walk was wonderfully flat and beautiful, with many (more) waterfalls and swaying swing bridges over incredibly clear mountain streams—and lucky for us, most of the water had drained from the previous flooding so we didn’t have to walk through any waist-high streams.   Liam and Xander spent the day walking with the other kids, and Jim and I hung back with the parents.  Liam did not give in to chivalry and carry Alicia’s pack (although she asked) citing her 3 month age advantage as an excuse.  Xander carried our pack the whole last day.  He rocks.  It’s funny to think I spent over 15 hours chatting with Louise—that’s probably more than I get the opportunity to talk with almost all of my friends at home.  We finished up around 2, just in time to catch an early boat and bus back to Te Anau.  Showers and a hot meal never felt/tasted so good. 

Liam says his muscles are bigger.  Xander said he would’ve gone on another trek the next day (as several in the group did.)  My feet have recovered at the cost of some really gross shoes (I’m checking on the REI exchange from abroad policy…) Jim is too nice to say “I told you so.” Our confidence in ourselves and each other is higher, and the hike proved to be a wonderful family accomplishment (and a fine "walk," indeed). 

Milford sound on the boat ride back

Onward and upward (north, in a car, thank goodness).