Greatest Walk in the World

(karen)


We left the bustle of Queentown in our newly rented Nissan Primera and headed west toward the largest national park in New Zealand, Fiordland, where we were to begin our journey on what many consider to be the greatest walk in the world: the Milford Track. The track is so popular that the Department of Conservation (DOC) has strictly limited the number of walkers per day to 40, as well as requiring the track to be walked in one direction only. We opted to do the four day walk as independent trampers, but many people shell out $1,500 each for a guided walk in which they carry nothing but their clothes, and everything from gormet food to hot showers is provided on the way. I'm telling you, this is tramping like I've never seen it! Even for those of us carrying everything on our backs we were greeted with massive cabin-like huts, gas cookers, sinks, and even flush toilets.


The first two days of the walk were through the Clinton Valley. This is a long, glacially carved valley with steep canyon walls and an impossibly green river down the center. For the most part we had spectacular sunny weather, which is rare in this region where they recieve over 350" of rain a year. The second day we did walk in a light rain that caused hundreds of thread-like waterfalls to spill down the canyon walls. The ranger told us that during heavy rains the river will swell very quickly and flood the trail up to a meter deep; I was only mildly relieved to escape that fate, since it could've been a lot of fun :)


We were introduced to the destructive power of the kea, the world's only subalpine parrot. We had seen these guys one our last backpacking trip but only from a distance. The keas in this area have learned how fun people can be and we were warned to keep all belongings either in the hut or hung up high lest they be torn to bits. Apparently they like to steal cameras and poke holes in your boots. They can undo zippers and Steve even caught a kea in the act of opening the door to our hut! Cheeky devils.




On day three the skies were shining bright again; we hiked out of the Clinton Valley and over an alpine pass where we had amazing views of the snow capped mountains in this region. Thus began the 3,000' descent into the next valley on our way to the Milford Sound. As we climbed down the mountain we were in the heart of the temperate rain forest and flanked by a river that cascaded spectacularly into turquoise-blue pools. It it truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Later that afternoon we dropped our packs and took a side trip to the Sutherland Falls which is the tallest permanent waterfall in New Zealand and the 6th tallest in the world. I wasn't expecting much but the sight of it took my breath away! We sat in the grass near the base and watched it, mezmorized, for over an hour. Looking back now I regret not standing beneath it to feel the power of the water falling so far. (Isn't that always easier to say when you are miles away from the freezing cold water?)



That evening after dark we walked back out on the trail a small ways to see the glow worms that live in the cliff sides in the forest. There were hundreds of tiny blue dots scattered all around that made you feel as though you were looking at stars. I'm sure the glow worm cave tours are more spectacular, but I thought it was more special to have this treasure all to ourselves in the wilderness.

The last day was long but flat as we continued to the end of the valley and ended up in beautiful Milford Sound. The sound (really a fiord because it was carved by glaciers) is a majestic and dramatic landscape that is surrounded by thin, sharp peaks and shear walls several thousand feet tall that look like the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride. It's a strange little nook that sees hundred of tourists every day but since most everyone comes for a day trip there are few ammenities. We decided to brave the sand flies and spend the night at the rustic lodge/hostel to soak up this wild area a little longer.