ONE OF THE FINEST WALKS IN THE WORLD- MILFORD TRACT

MILFORD SOUND 

MILFORD AND OTHER
TRACTS THAT LEAD INTO
FJORDS

MILFORD TRACT NEWZEALAND: There it was! I was 13 years old and and looking at one of my first National Geographic's and a stunning photo of Milford Sound with Mitre peak in the foreshadow, it jumped off the page and in into my imagination. This was better than bare breasted African women feeding their babies, and was my first glimpse into my future... beckoning me to explore the world. The Milford tract is located on the South Island, on the lower west coast with at least 7 other major treks through the Southern Alps.
THE NZ TEAM

 

START OF TRACT JOHN, FAITH, JAY AND ME 

I was once again teaming up with my old kiwi pal Jay Goldsack, Aussie John Mckelvy and his squeeze Faith. We were praying for good weather since this 50.5 Km, (33.6 mile) walk receives an average annual rainfall of 265 inches. So far it was perfect, according to one guide last year they had to jump off the boat and were in knee deep water to start the trek.
Hiking the Milford tract is pretty commercialized these days, but in a way that keeps it functional. You can do the tract one of 2 ways, carry a large backpack with all your own food, sleeping bag and stay bunk beds in Doc huts. Or spoil yourself like we did and do 5 days of Glamping, a luxury option with guides,  gourmet food and lodges, we carried a day pack.

OUR INTERNATIONAL GROUP

FALLEN TREE WITH TANGLED
ROOTS, THAT PULLS DOWN
OTHER TREES,
NOT VINES LIKE IN THE
RAINFOREST AT THE EQUATOR

GLADE LODGE IN BACKGROUND, 

Along with 50 other people off you go. 50 you say, seems terrible, but our contingency of people from all around the world made it quite interesting, and the Japanese, attempting to speak English, with a sense of humor won us all over. And after 10 minutes of hiking you were spread out across the trail and didn't see anybody until lunch or dinner.

REFRESHING STREAM BY GLADE LODGE

CUTE LITTLE EELS

On Day 1: we had a 2 hour bus ride, a cruise along a Lake, and a 1 mile walk to Glade lodge, a quick informative nature hike up to an overlook and refreshing stream was followed by an exhilarating dip in the river in by the lodge. You just have to watch out for the harmless 3 to 4 foot eels that may come up to pay you a visit. This was Faith's favorite animal, but only when she found out about them after she swam. These freshwater catadromous eels, like the longfin, can live 106 years, and are born out in the sea by Tonga, and eventually migrate back up rivers to lakes, and at one time they were an important source of protein for the Maori.

GLACIAL CARVED CLINTON
VALLEY

TREE FERN JUNGLE

 CLINTON VALLEY: Next day we had a pleasant 16 km (10 miles) relatively flat walk along the river through a tree fern jungle. These giant tree ferns, and the famous Silver fern, reminded me of the movie , "Fern Gully". Plus the ice carved meadow makes the Clinton valley breathtaking.

MACKINNON PASS

POTTY BREAK

RATED TOP 10 VIEWS FROM
A TOILET IN THE WORLD!

MACKINNON PASS:  DAY 3, is a 18 km hike across the Mackinnon pass, and the day we were waiting for. We headed out bright early, lunch packed, and after a few kilometers we ascended 1,000 meters (3,000') up to the top of Mackinnon pass, we were very lucky since only 20-25% of the time it is crystal clear, and the prize at the top is a view rivaling Yosemite.  (A couple of years ago a Japanese man had broken his leg on the ascent, continued to hike, the guide noticed the next day his leg was black blue, and had him life flighted out.)
Surrounded by 3,000 foot walls the Clinton valley looks like a post card of glacial recession. The pass is named after McKinnon, who after his futile search for gold, decided to set up a touring company based out of Milford sound, and would lead hikes there in the early 1900s. Eventually the area became part of the 3 million hectare Fjordland park, which includes all the other treks.

SUTHERLAND FALLS

To top the day off, you had an option for 1/12 hour hike up to the famous 580 meter (1,903 ') gorgeous Sutherland WaterFall. Once claimed by Sutherland to be the tallest waterfall in the world.

LUNCH STOP AND REFILL 

DAY4  MILFORD SOUND: The last push is along an undulating trail 20 km (12 mile) through tropical like rainforests with waterfall stops along the way.
One of which was our lunch stop....the South Island is one of the few places in the world where you can drink the water right out of the lakes- no Gerardia.

MILFORD SOUND- OUT THE HOTEL ROOM

We ended our trek in the beautiful sitting of the Miter lodge at the end of Milford
Sound, and although partly clouded, still spectacular non the less, we were rewarded with a gourmet dinner, beer, wine, and a view out the room like a post card.

PAINTING OF MILFORD SOUND

LAST DAY(5) pretty laid back with a 11/2 hour cruise around the stunning sound, with waterfalls at every turn, this was once called by Rudyard Kipling,  The "8th wonder of the world". 
After the boat ride we had 3 hour bus ride back to Queenstown.

PARAGLIDING OVER QUEENSTOWN--YAHOO!

QUEENSTOWN: is the adrenalin rush capital of the world so we decided to spend some extra days there before and after the trek. It has all the bells and whistles, plus in the winter it is the top ski resort in NZ. They have: paragliding, jet boating, luge racing, bungee jumping, river rafting (that shoots you through a cave at the end), mtn biking etc.                          

MOUNTAIN BIKING AND THIS 
WAS GREEN TRACT! 

LUGE COURSE ABOVE QUEENSTOWN.

READY TO TEAR UP
THE LUGE COURSE

JUDITH FRONT LEFT NEXT TO ME,
JAY AND JOHN IN THE NEXT SEAT BACK

So Jay and I tackled the mountain bike park and bolted,
actually screamed, down the green tract. Sounds easy....right, this was the toughest thing we did the whole trip and at one point Jay was launched over the handle bars and did a full gainer. And you can't miss the famous jet boat ride barely missing cliffs along the river, a couple of years ago, a young lady was decapitated by a protruding cliff as she stretched out over the edge of the boat. The jet boat engine invented by a Kiwi, Bill Hamilton, was built to perform in 6" of water. What a ride, see the video below (3 min. long).
 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/it01w3s0ifx2us5/AADBZaD1clCoc71Pg4J5mTzZa/5-Mikey-1015.mp4?dl=0
All I can say is that New Zealand is one of the ultimate places to have fun and adventure, and yes -I will have to agree the Milford tract is one of the "Finest walks in the World".

Tips: "The Ultimate Hiking Company" for the 5 day tract-/ cost-- Pp Includes: lodges, food, guides, transport...bus and boats to and from Queenstown. Depends on the style you want:
Muli-Shared room:  $1,495. Private Queen or Twins; $1,796 this is in 2016
   reserve this trip 7-8  months in advance.
   https://www.ultimatehikes.co.nz/
DOC huts are:$54 a day (2016 prices), you must bring your own food and sleeping gear (so a big backpack) reserve 1 year in advance
Flights: $1,400: fly non-stop Air New Zealand from LAX to Auckland
Water: no need to sterilize it
Paragliding: $100
Mtn. Biking + equipment rental $75
Jet boating: $100
Try:  Foot fleece (wool) for blisters, or irritations on your foot or toes--$12.00- binds with your socks.