The Great Milford Track

Milford Track is one of the Great Walks in New Zealand and has been described as “the finest walk in the world.” So, of course we had to squeeze it in before we left! It is a 4 day, 53.5 km walk in the beautiful Fiordland National Park. Access to the track is strictly limited and we had to book our hut passes months in advance just to get on it. Luckily, it all worked out and we began our trip on Wednesday with a 3.5 hour drive to Te Anau, where the track begins. We spent the night there, picked up our hut passes in the morning and were off!

To get to the track, we had to take a boat to Glade Wharf at the head of Lake Te Anau. The ride was pretty and we arrived at the wharf about an hour and a half later. Here we set off for the short first leg of our journey. It was only about an hour and a half to Clinton Hut so we took our time enjoying the sights along the way.


Ready to begin!


Day one rest stop

We were the first of 40 to arrive at the hut so we chose our bunks, ate some lunch, and played some Rummy outside in the hot sun, all the while slapping at sandflies. That evening, our hut warden, Russ (who had the longest legs I have ever seen) took us on a little nature walk, pointing out trees, plants and birds. After that, we prepared our Thanksgiving feast of pre-cooked chicken, gravy, instant mashed potatoes, instant stuffing, and bagged wine. It actually ended up being a pretty good substitute for the good stuff, considering we had to carry it all in and were eating in the middle of the forest! We enjoyed the good company of some fellow Americans here on holiday and headed down the trail after dark to see some glow worms. Not a bad Thanksgiving!


Happy Thanksgiving!

Next morning, we were unhappily woken at 5am by some early birds in our bunkroom. This was made worse by the fact that all 3 of us had to get up multiple times during the night to visit the outdoor toilet. Lesson learned: instant taters/stuffing contains LOTS of water, not good when camping. We couldn’t go back to sleep so we ended up getting up and were on the trail by 7am for the 6 hour walk to Mintaro Hut.

Day 2 was rainy but, as with several of our other adventures here, we did not complain as it only made the waterfalls more spectacular. Not to mention that rain is the norm in this little corner of the world. Our hike that day took us through rainforest, across prairies, past lakes, over boulder fields and slip areas, and halfway up the mountain. We saw endangered blue ducks, NZ robins, tui, and lots of other birdlife. We were pretty wet by the time we finished, but not cold. It continued to pour rain at the hut so we alternated staying bundled up inside and sitting outside on the covered porch looking at the pretty surroundings. There was also a weka hanging out on the porch so we made friends with him. Finally, just before sunset (around 10pm now!) the skies began to clear and we saw for the first time just what was around us. We were surprised to find that we were surrounded by towering rock faces with waterfalls tumbling down all over! The moon and stars came out and we stood outside staring and taking pictures until darkness took over.


Sunset at Mintaro Hut

Day 3 was our toughest day, summit day! We took our time in the morning as it was once again overcast and rainy, and was forecasted to clear by midday. We wanted every chance of having clear skies at the summit, MacKinnon Pass. So, we set out around 9:30am and began our ascent. We climbed through rainforest for about 2 hours before transitioning into alpine landscape (tussock, and rocky). From here we switchbacked up, in rain and very chilly winds (90kmph!) to the top where we found Lexie, who had been ahead of us, huddled behind a rock, trying to stay warm.


Almost to the summit in the clouds

It was still very cloudy so no views and we continued on to a shelter just up the trail. There, we had some lunch snacks and peeked outside every now and then to see the sky slowly clearing up. Again, with breaks in the clouds, we were shocked at what we saw! Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and glacier valleys in every direction, we left our packs and went back up the trail for the now clear views. And well worth the wait, it was stunning beauty all around. We spent over an hour just looking and taking pictures (which, by the way, don’t do it justice).


The last of the clouds clear


View from MacKinnon Pass

After awhile, we decided we better get back on the trail as we still had another 4 hours of tramping ahead (including a 1000 metre descent) and a side hike of 1.5 hours to Sutherland Falls. So, we started down the alternate route and the main trail was closed for avalanche danger. This trail was quite steep and rocky so we were glad to have trekking poles to help us down. We eventually made it back into the rainforest and tramped on past numerous creeks, rivers, and waterfalls. By now it was completely clear and sunny, perfect weather!

We got to the Sutherland Falls shelter and dropped our heavy packs for the 45 minute hike to the falls. Our legs were feeling a little wobbly by that point so we were really hoping the falls were worth the extra effort and boy were we rewarded! Sutherland Falls are named after Donald Sutherland, who discovered MacKinnon Pass and, essentially, Milford Track in the late 1800’s. They are the highest falls in NZ, at 580 metres, or 1904 feet. Its source is Lake Quill, which is fed by several surrounding glaciers. There was a huge volume of water coming down into an extremely shallow pool and rocks, just exploding out to the sides. As a result, we were completely soaked in freezing cold snowmelt almost instantly. But it was worth it!


Sutherland Falls

After picking up our packs, we continued down the trail for the last hour of our day. Our legs were feeling pretty wobbly from all the downhill walking so we were pretty happy to see the hut. We again chose our bunks and decided to head back up the trail to the swimming hole. The water was ice cold and was actually painful to be in for more than a few seconds but after a couple of extremely quick dunks in, we were feeling pretty refreshed. We headed back to the hit and prepared our final dinner of the track, soup. We wandered outside to see the mama and baby weka, and to secure our poles and boots to keep the kea from stealing them. It was an early to bed night after an exhausting day. Unfortunately, our whole bunkroom was woken around 1am by 2 serious snorers who continued the noises for the rest of the night. So, again, none of us got much sleep. But, to be expected when you share a room with that many people!

Day 4, our final 6 hours on the track was sunny and clear again! Our legs were again pretty tired but we couldn’t take our time too much as we had a 2pm boat to catch! So, we carried on, stopping to see some cool sights, including Mackay Falls, Bell Rock, Poseidon Creek, and some other pretty rivers and falls. Oh, and of course we were still surrounded by the beautiful mountains!


Mackay Falls


Craig rocking one of many swing bridges, this one over Poseidon Creek


Typical Day 4

We made it, feet aching, to Sandfly Point around 1:15, snapped a few parting shots, took off our boots, and boarded the oldest boat in Milford for the 20 minute ride across the sound. We passed Mitre Peak and Bowen Falls for one last time, and then ended our journey with a bus ride up Milford Road, over the pass, back to Te Anau.


We made it!

We were all craving real food, so we took our stinky, no shower for 4 days selves to the Ranch for some deserved burger, fries, wedges, and nachos before beginning the drive back to Dunedin. We finally arrived home at 9pm, threw in a load of laundry, showered, and hurried to bed to rest up for work the next day. Milford Track was amazing, and we are once again feeling pretty lucky to have had the opportunity to see it!

Milford Pics