December 12

Begin Milford Track

Today I would begin walking the Milford Track. It was still raining. I checked my extra luggage in the storage room, and booked my nights in Te Anau and Queenstown between the Milford and Routeburn Tracks. It is best to book Queenstown in advance, because it is the tourist center of the South Island, and the hostel can be crowded. I let the black and white cat that lives here sleep on my lap for a while, and then went out to make some final preparations.

I had vegetarian lasagna for lunch at Jailhouse Cafe, with a dark NZ beer, a Black Mac, followed by peanut-chocolate cake and a capuccino. Neil Young's Unplugged album was playing on the stereo. It was pretty good - I thought I might get it some time. Then I went down to the visitor's center by the lake to get the bus for the Milford Track. A half-hour ride took us to Te Anau Downs, where we boarded the boat for an hour and a half ride to the beginning of the track. It was raining most of the time.

After leaving for the boat, I waited for the crowd to clear before taking a picture, and then started off along the track. There were water puddles everywhere, but the track was well-maintained and in excellent condition. I was glad I had my GoreTeX boots. Many people just had tennis shoes, and would have very wet feet. The track followed the Clinton River. About 10 minutes from the start, we passed Glade Hut, where the guided walkers stay. Then we crossed a swinging bridge and continued along the river, which was fast here with many rapids. The forest was lush with ferns and moss.

The rain never let up. I tried taking some pictures, but the conditions were difficult. A big waterfall appeared through the mist across the river. We passed through the "Black Forest" and reached Clinton Forks Hut in about 2 hours, just over 8 km from the start. The hut was two buildings with 40 beds and a common room. We had gas stoves, running water, and a drying room with a stove for drying out clothes, presumably so we could soak them freshly tomorrow. There were flush toilets also.

The Milford Track is famous for rain, getting around 5-8 meters a year, so rainy days are not unusual, and the drying room was well-used. I didn't have much to dry, since I had packed well, and had waterproof boots. Actually, the boots weren't as waterproof as they used to be, but they didn't leak too badly on the short walk today. There were a lot of sandflies on the screens. I hadn't noticed them much while walking. They don't bother you unless you stop.

I fixed chicken with tomatoes and tomato noodles with chicken satay soup for dinner. The hut warden came in after dinner and welcomed us to the track, and checked our hut tickets. He said tomorrow would be rainy like today, and that one stream crossing could be difficult. He said the hut water and all the streams along Milford Track were safe to drink without treatment. There was no Giardia here, in spite of the signs in the toilets warning about it. Other parts of New Zealand have Giardia.

We had about 60 mm of rain today. The storm is a southern one, and they are usually followed by clear weather, so it is possible that we will have decent weather to cross the pass. There was still snow on the pass, and we were warned that we would be passing through some avalanche zones tomorrow, where we should move quickly, without stopping, and spread out so that if there were an avalanche, it would not get too many people.

By 10 PM, most people were already in bed. It was only shortly after dusk, and the hut was lit by gaslight. We were instructed on how to turn off the gas at the main valve, and the last person in bed would do this. I was not up much longer. Some people stayed up later playing cards.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.