Day One: I started by getting up early in Queenstown and catching a bus to Te Anau, a little lake town two hours north. After checking in with the Department of Conservation, they shuttle us to their boat departure point on Lake Te Anau and I rode up to the start of the track in the afternoon. The first days hike was just under three miles through mossy forests alongside a nice little blue river. At the huts, which are basic but miles better than those in the Abel Tasman, the warden, none other than Peter Jackson (which he assured us was his real name), entertained us for the evening, showing off the local colony of glow worms and the southern hemisphere constellations.
Day Two: Like the day before, it was sunny and it turned out to be a pleasant little 10 mile walk to the next hut. Surrounding was a huge glacier valley, at the bottom of which was a rainforest and it was through this that we hiked. It followed another aqua blue river for the entire day. Since I got to the hut rather early, I went out ahead on the track for a few hours, climbing up Mackinnon Pass. I had been advised that if the weather is good when you get to the second hut, climb up the pass because you may see nothing the next day due to inclement weather. The pass is situated between two glacial valleys so the views on both sides were stunning. There was a great group of seven of us young Canadians, Americans, and Brits on the track at the same time as I was, so we had a great time talking and playing games for the evenings on the track, when there wasn't much else to do.
Day Three: It started out with the hike up the pass that I had done the previous day. This turned out to be my first rainy day in New Zealand (I've been lucky). I was lucky to have done it then because it was downright miserable up at the top that day. Gusts of wind knocking me off me feet, pelting rain, freezing temperatures, it was everything one imagines a "mountain pass" to be. But despite all that, it was rather fun working my way through it. On the way down, I walked past waterfall after waterfall in the rainforest, then took a little detour to see New Zealand's highest waterfall, Sutherland Falls, which is 1,740 ft tall and quite impressive. It was 8 or 9 miles that day and despite everyone getting a bit more tired, we all had another good night.
Day Four: We woke up to torrential downpours. It had rained about 8 inches overnight and continued. The ranger told us he might have to helicopter us over certain parts of the track because of flooding. But that didn't happen, we ended up just walking. At one point though, we were up to the waist in water, it was quite the experience. No part of anyone was dry, but luckily, I had brought a plastic bag for my pack so I had dry clothes to change into at the end of the day. Halfway through the hike, the rain stopped and the sun came out, revealing swollen waterfalls, rainbows, and great views. I got to the end at around 1:30 in the afternoon, which is a place called Sandfly Point, so called for its swarms of little biting bugs found everywhere in New Zealand (they are quite a pain in the ass, the bites last for more than a week and itch the whole time). All in all, it was about 41 miles with the sidetrips.
A boat transferred us to the bus/boat terminal at Milford Sound and I went on one of the cruises of it, which was quite cool. It is hard to show how giant and dramatic the fiord is through pictures, but it was jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. If you look closely, you can see a 40 ft tall boat in one of the pictures of Mitre Peak (bottom center), which gives it a bit of scale. Mitre Peak rises over 5000 ft. almost vertically from the sea. Then a bus back to Queenstown made the end of a long few days, but very worthwhile ones.
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Boring details:
I got another $1 nakebus fare from Queenstown to Te Anau, leaving at 6:55. It takes a few hours and then I had about 4 hours to kill in Te Anau. The bus drops right off at the DOC Visitor Center, where you have to check in if you are doing one of the great walks, such as the Milford Track. Facing the visitor center, walk 10 min to the right along the shore, and it is the town of Te Anau and 10 min to the left is the trail to the wildlife center. To book the Milford Track, you should do it at least two or three months in advance. The DOC can book everything to and from Te Anau online($80). I only did to Milford Sound and then used Cruize Milford to get me the boat tour and back to Queentown at around 10:00pm the same day ($70).
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