After a month on the road in confined quarters we hit our limit. We needed a holiday from the holiday. While both those things are completely true, we had booked to do the Milford Track almost a year ago before our Big Lap of Oz became a reality. Anyone familiar with the Milford Track is equally familiar with how quickly it books up, I think I read before that a few years ago the season sold out in 18 minutes (don’t quote that as fact at the pub though).
We’ve done trips around New Zealand pretty much every two years, but there was never the 4 days of time spare. Then of course kids came along, and even if young kids were allowed to do the track I think I’d rather be eaten by sandflies then take them on a multi-day hike. So we decided to make it happen. You know you’re a parent when your idea of a “holiday” involves disappearing into the wilderness. We locked in the grandparents to take a kid each and it was them who made this trip possible. While speaking of the grandparents, when dropping the kids off at my Dad’s the night before we flew out, Dad mentioned happened to mention that he had done the track about 15 years ago which I hadn’t realized. The thought that my mid-50’s (at the time) father had done this hike would become a big source of comfort to me over the next few days.
There are two ways you can do the Milford Track. The way most people do it is by booking at Department of Conservation (DOC) huts which are along the track. These are bunkhouses with cooking facilities and toilets but that’s pretty much it. It means you have to carry all your food and sleeping material with you as well. The other way you can do it is booking with Ultimate Hikes – the only company who have private lodges along the track. We thought we’d spare the Milford Track from the sight of Daniel gimping about a Department of Conservation bunkhouse. “Daniel” and “Dormitory” are two words which are forever meant to remain apart. This meant we were lucky enough to have all our meals cooked for us, comfortable beds with all the linen taken care of, hot showers, and it was the only way Daniel was going to get beers along the hike. No-one believe us if we say we were roughing it. Of course it’s quite expensive but we figured that after a week having them that there was no way the grandparents would have the kids again so we may as well make it count!
We flew into Queenstown the day before. To anyone who hasn’t been before it’s the coolest, most beautiful adventure town set on lakes and mountains more vivid than what you can imagine. With the actual trip paid for back when we were working, we were on a tight spending budget for everything else. So we caught a bus into the town to our accommodation, where we were staying at a hostel. My Princess of a husband didn’t know what had hit him – he was on a bus and staying in a hostel. They even gave him a lanyard to hang his hostel card from around his neck.
He didn’t have much time to feel too sorry about his home for evening as we had to go attend the track briefing. We caught a first look at our group – everyone shy and keeping to themselves. How that would change! We took the opportunity of being childless in a cool city having a few drinks at Pub on Wharf, and then having the most delicious lamb meal at Captains Restaurant . We took a little evening stroll before getting ready for the days ahead and tucking back in to our hostel.
Reporting to the Ultimate Hikes office the next morning we got to meet our hilarious and rockstar guides – Shaun, Kelvin, Tilly and Colette. I feel that everyone in the group both male and female left with a bit of a crush on Shaun but no doubt he’s used to it. We all piled onto the bus for the two hour drive to Te Anau. I thought Kaia could talk for the Olympics, but she’s met her match in our bus driver Bruce. He proved me wrong that a man can’t do two things at once because he didn’t pause to take a breath in two hours and still managed perfect driving.
When we got off the bus to get the boat across Lake Te Anau to the start of the track it was pouring down rain. Milford gets 9 meters of rain a year (as we learnt from our driver Bruce) so the chances of getting rain during your four day hike are pretty high. Everyone scrambled into their packs trying to dig out their “optional” waterproof clothing. The rain kept getting worse over the course of the one hour boat ride, everyone attempted to go up to the open top deck of the boat one by one over the course of the journey but none lasted more than a handful of seconds.
By the time we got off the boat the rain was torrential. I’m sure our lovely guides were cursing all of us as we asked them to kindly take photos at the Milford Track sign as the symbolic start. Luckily, Day 1 was pretty easy hiking wise – only 1.6km on extremely flat track. We all pitied the other hikers who had to continue on another 3kms in that weather to get to the first DOC bunkhouse. Hot drinks and snacks were waiting for us when we got to our first lodge – Glade House. We got sorted in our room, put the clothes and boots in the drying room and headed to the communal area with an open fire, comfy sofas, games and books. We got a bottle of wine, got to know some of the people in the group, invented some new words at Scrabble, before tucking in to our venison dinner.
The next day – Day 2 of the hike – felt like the real start with 16km on the agenda for the day. We made our packed lunch from the buffet the team set up for us, polished off a cooked breakfast and got packs on ready to go. Everyone was keen to get started so we all headed off together. One thing we were really concerned about with this trip was that we didn’t want to be walking in a group the whole time. We wanted to experience the hike itself very much to ourselves but then have the comfort and luxury to come back to at the end of each day. After about the first 30 minutes the group naturally spaced out so it did feel like we had the track to ourselves which is what we were after. The guides were awesome at keeping track of everyone but letting you go at your own pace.
The distance for this day was substantial but the track itself was pretty tame. The track was predominantly through forest and bushland, walking alongside a river of the clearest water you’ll ever see. But the times when the track opened up and you walked through the valleys were truly awesome and were what reminded you about why you wanted to do this walk in the first place. Surrounded by snow capped mountains and peaks with waterfalls trickling down wherever your eye looked. No doubt the rain the previous day helped put on this magical show.
Ending the day’s hike with a short but steep rock climb – no doubt a taste for the next day – we got to our second lodge – Pompolona Lodge. Another great meal and great conversation and we tucked in a little after 8:00pm. We knew that the next day was going to be the hardest as we climbed up and over Mackinnon Pass which is 1,154 metres above sea level. I comforted myself to sleep again with the thought that if Dad could do it, so could I.
I’ll interrupt here to mention our training for this. Despite working in sport for the last decade, you’ll probably not find someone who has less of an exercise routine than me. There are many people (hopefully reading this) who can attest and share anecdotes about this fact. So for me to take on 54km of anything not in a form of transport was unheard of. Don’t get me wrong, we’re active and we’re always out exploring but we definitely don’t have any regular exercise routine – two kids are our excuse and we’re sticking with it! The Ultimate Hikes team recommended you train by doing daily walks for 8 weeks prior, gradually increasing the distance and difficulty. In our month on the road so far we’ve taken the kids on quite a few hikes and bushwalks – some of a which have been pretty ambitious, and all which involve us carrying at least one or both the kids for the majority of the hike. We figured that carrying the kids was training enough for carrying our packs, and that Kaia’s whining during the whole time was training enough for whatever persistence would be needed.
Day 3 got pretty hard, pretty quickly. Before the caffeine had even set in from the last coffee we were already climbing up. It was a hard slog for sure but I think my expectations were worse. We took the zig zag switchbacks one by one and got to the top of Mackinnon Pass around 11:00am – not bad for a mornings effort! The view was amazing and we had the absolute perfect weather where it was overcast to keep it cool, but it wasn’t cloudy where you couldn’t experience the view. Allll the way down bottom – directly in front of us we could see the tiny speck which was our next lodge and that day’s destination. Apparently the flying fox hasn’t been installed yet. Where else would we stop for lunch but the very top, and get to experience “The Loo with a View”. But as the saying goes – it was all downhill from there…
Downhill absolutely sucked. I had spent all of my mental energy focusing on the uphill part and being worried that, but I had completely underestimated getting down the other side. It wasn’t the steep descent which was the problem, the terrain was just huge, loose rocks the whole way. The sheer concentration looking down where you were placing your feet was exhausting. I was miserable. I wanted to cry. I hated every minute. Joints that I didn’t even know I had were searing in agony. My little legs weren’t meant for such big rocks. What made it worse was that it was impossible to know how far away we were. The track markers were ambiguous where the track had been changed over the years, and devices such as our Fitbit and phones kept giving us false hope just by distance that we should be there. One of the guides passed us and broke my heart by telling me there was still another 40 minutes to go. I’d never wanted to sit down and cry more in my life.
But we made it to Quintin Lodge – never being so happy to see a sign and a building in my life. The lodge had a side walk of another hour and a half to see Sutherland Falls. The highest in New Zealand and fifth highest in the world at 581 meters. Another hour and a half walk when we were already in agony was a hard thing to fathom. Daniel announced he was so mad at me for making him go that he couldn’t even talk to me. So it was actually a highly pleasant walk in the end. Sutherland Falls was completely worth it. You can get pretty much under the falls getting soaked from the powerful spray. Back at the lodge, everyone was walking as if they had just given birth, so it was comforting to know we weren’t the only ones struggling. Everyone was swapped stories of their big day while self medicating their injuries from the bar.
Day 4 was the longest distance yet at 21km but the track was mostly flat and easy with the rocks disappearing after about the first half an hour and turning back into a proper track. It was still a struggle with ever muscle and joint hurting from the day before. My poor body didn’t know what had hit it with all this exercise. But the scenery more than made up for it being able to see the New Zealand famous Mackay Falls and Giants Gate Falls. The latter was a glacial swimming spot that many of the group went for a dip in. I came close the jumping on the bandwagon and going for an ice swim myself but bottled it. About 3 miles later we made it to Sandfly Point – the end of the track. 21km that day seemed impossible at the start of the day. We took the boat back to Mitre Peak Lodge – our final lodge on the track where a lamb feast and a celebration night was in store.
The last day we did a scenic boat cruise before the 4 hour drive back to Queenstown. I’m not sure anyone in the group saw much of the drive back beyond the inside of their eyelids. We bid farewell to new friends and made our way to our night. Now remember how I said we were on a budget – well that went out the window. In the spirit of “you only live once” and taking advantage of a holiday to ourselves, we decided to splurge on a hotel suite at Nugget Point overlooking Shotover Canyon with a private Jacuzzi on the balcony. After splurging on the hotel we couldn’t afford dinner so instead we spent 3 hours soaking in the hot tub eating chips and snacks.
A fantastic end to a fantastic experience. Ultimate Hikes is definitely the only way to do it – amazing food, luxury accommodation and (hopefully) lifelong friends made. But now, its back to the luxury of our camper…and the kids.
Where are the Actons? 