New Zealand at Last
(Continued from 1)
We spent three days backpacking on the famous
Routeburn Trek, experienced an exhilarating morn
ing boogie boarding through a gorge with class three
and four rapids, enjoyed a perfect day on a boat ride
through the ^ords on Doubtful Sound, and then
started the Milford Trek. Our whole lives, weVe been
intrigued with the Milford Trek, one of most famous
hikes/tramps in the world. It is remote, unspoiled,
rugged and beautiful.
In order to be a part of the trek, we had to make
reservations a year in advance. Only 40 people per
day are allowed to access the 35-mile scenic trail with
three huts spaced a day’s walk apart. We rode a park
service bus for 30 minutes to the middle of nowhere
and then took a 45 minute park boat across a huge
lake surrounded by snow capped mountains, ^ords
and waterfalls.
Two rangers met us and made us put our shoes in
a bacterial solution to get rid of any foreign germs,
carefully protecting this pristine environment. We
walked through the alpine rainforest, which was like
walking through a giant terrarium. Hundred-year
old trees were growing on huge rocks, both entirely
covered with moss. It was a botanists dream. We had
never seen so many varieties of ferns, plants, mosses
and huge trees.
The trail is an engineering marvel. It was first
carved in the mountainside in the late 1800s to ac
cess Milford Sound. It took 60 years to dig a tunnel
through the mountain to Milford Sound to allow car
access. There are rainforests, raging rivers, ^ords,
huge snow-capped mountains, glaciers and too many
waterfalls to count along the trail.
We were worried about the heavy rainfall predicted
for the day we were to hike across the high alpine
pass that always gets extreme weather. The ranger told
us to embrace the rain and accept the fact that we will
get wet because this area averages almost an inch a
day of rain. With an improved attitude, we faced the
cold wind and rain, and the experience of flowing riv
ers, fog and new waterfalls was magical.
Each night, we met up at the next hut with the
same 40 people. We all shared a large bunkroom for
sleeping and equipped with gas burners for cook
ing. There was no electricity or hot water, but it was
great fun to meet everyone and enjoy the positive
energy. (The ranger warned us not to leave our boots
outside because the wekas, large non-flying birds,
would steal them.) Many of our fellow trampers fixed
gourmet meals as they lugged pots, pans, spices and
fresh food in their packs for four days. We tried to
keep our backpacks light by bringing only a sleeping
bag, change of clothes, raingear, GORP, granola bars
and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yep, we were
starving by the last day! Only three or four of us took
a bath during the four days, and it was in the glacier-
fed river that was freezing but refreshing.
One of the many interesting people on the trek had
hiked the Milford Trek in 1966, the first year it had
opened for Freedom Walkers. That’s what we were
called since we had no guide and were doing the hike
on our own.
The end of the trail was Sandfly Point, aptly named
by all the bites we got. A park boat took us across the
head of Milford Sound, where we rode a bus for the
two-hour magnificent drive through the mountains
and tunnel. Soon after exiting the tunnel, we noticed
a trail that led up to uninhabitable terrain. The bus
driver told us this is where Edmund Hillary trained
before climbing Mt. Everest. We slept on it and then
drove back to hike to the saddle of the big mountains
where we had amazing views of the Milford Sound.
That night, we stayed in an old miner’s camp with
no telephone service and no electricity. The shower
was heated by a homemade coal fire under the water
tank, and the refrigerator was a basket in a mountain
stream. From there, we drove up the rugged West
Coast to the Abel Tasman National Park to hike an
other of New Zealand’s famous Great Walks.
Everywhere you turn in this part of New Zealand,
there is spectacular scenery. The people, the culture
and the lifestyle were impressive. New Zealand far
exceeded our high expectations.
Crystal Coast
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u n t r y i u
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2 The Shoreline I May 2012