Milford

The Milford Road
In the few days between running the Kepler track and walking the Milford track we decided to drive up the scenic Milford road.
With the Lord of the Rings sound track playing we set off along the road that was as scenic as it promised to be. We saw (in no particular order):
Mirror lake (shown here at about 08.00 in the morning when there had been ice on the bikes when we got up)

A chasm carved by the river:

Some craggy peaks and a great ridge (can't see it without wanting to be on it):

Milford sound itself bathed in sunlight (rare I'm told):

The Milford Track
The Milford track is probably the most famous of NZs great walks, which becomes apparent when you try and book the huts to stay in - we booked in September and the first date available was the end of March! You get dropped by boat and spend 3 nights on the track in wilderness huts before being picked up by boat at the other end. Having learnt lessons from our trek in Chile we packed light (except for the 1.5kg of sausage cassoulet we had made the night before which was supposed to only be for the first night but, as always Sam got a little over excited on the portions). So light in fact, we kept thinking we'd forgotten something. The good thing about great walk huts (which mean you carry less) is they have bunk rooms with mattresses (no tent or Thermarest required) and kitchens with gas (no stove required, only cooking utensils and food). Despite having light packs we decided against taking a bottle of Pinot Noir (probably a good excuse for a detox).
We set off from Lake Te Anau at lunchtime on a boat which drops you at the mouth of the Clinton river and is in itself a nice trip

A short 1.5 hr walk from the drop off takes you through some nice forest, over a good swing bridge and up to the first night stay at Clinton hut

Which is beautifully located so you can take a quick (cold) dip in the river (whilst trying to avoid being eaten alive by Sandflys):

40 people a night are allowed at each hut so essentially you see the same people each day along the track and in the hut. We met some lovely Kiwi dairy farmers and some hilarious Aussie firemen, among others. At 5ish the hut ranger took us on a little walk and we chewed on some local leaves (very peppery), he taught us about other local flora, and he pointed out a glow worm cave which we visited again after dark.
Day 2 was a pleasant 5 or so hours up the valley to Mintaro hut, nothing particularly difficult. Along the way we pased a crystal clear 'hidden lake':

Day 3 from Mintaro over the pass to Dumpling hut is the jewel of this walk. The day started with a climb on some gentle switch backs up to ~ 1000m. The mist was rolling over the pass

As we emerged onto the pass it was covered in mist largely obscuring the memorial to the chap who'd discovered the route:

As we stood at the top in the wind, the mist blew away to reveal spectacular peaks with the valley still blanketed in cloud:

The clouds themselves were quite striking too:

Sam had been worried she'd been getting scenery fatigue given everywhere we've been has been spectacular, but views like this still take your breath away.
The other side of the pass was now cloud free with a lush jungle like covering:

If the view wasn't enough to make you smile they've built a hut with gas supply so you can have a cuppa at the top!

High on the views and whistling the 'Concerning Hobbits' tune, we started the descent on the other side. A series of boards and steps take you down next to the river which had some lovely little falls:

At the bottom we stopped for lunch before taking a side trip to the tall Sunderland falls. Unfortunately the top third of the falls were shrouded in mist but the remaining section was still thundering and worth a few minutes stop.
There followed some experimenting with shutter speeds, the results of which I'll share with you below.
The bottom two thirds of the falls:

With willing (and now quite damp) volunteer so you can get an idea of scale, this shows the bottom third only:

Splashing onto the rocks at the bottom:

Ghostly glow of the rocks through the spray:

Very quick shutter speed to capture the droplets:

A couple of hours more on the flat to Dumpling hut for the night.
Day 4 was a longish flat walk down the valley to catch a boat out at Milford Sound.
I don't know the difference between a forest and a jungle but this forest definitely looked like jungle....

The red beech trees were the only thing that stood out amongst the endless green (kept this way by an average 10m of rainfall annually!!)

5 hours later we arrived at Sandfly point (aptly named)

and hid in a hut until the boat arrived to pick us up for the short hop across the sound. Compared to our visit a few days previously a mist hung over the sound giving it an altogether different feel.

Compared to the Kepler our legs weren't even tired, but the views on this track had to be some of the most spectacular thanks to the mist.
Sidebar: Sam is not a huge fan of the wilderness huts, although can see the benefit in the wet/winter and to make these walks accessible to all. Whilst they are largely well designed you can be guaranteed that there is/are:
- a million Sandflys
- a snorer in your bunk room
- someone who thinks it is necessary/appropriate to get up at 05.30 and crash and clatter through the room. (On the last day everybody seemed so worried about missing the boat that they got up in the dark and rain, made huge amounts of noise, then left. When we got up at 07.30 it was light, it had stopped raining, we had the gas hob to ourselves, the track to ourselves and we made it to sandfly point with 20 minutes to spare, thereby not having to huddle in the hut for hours to avoid being eaten alive by these pesky blighters.)