One Year Away

Joseph and Penny

In 1888, Quintin Mackinnon, a surveyor
and explorer was commissioned to cut a track up the Clinton river
valley from lake Te Anau in southern South island of New Zealand.  He
did this and discovered a pass through the mountains which is now
named after him.  The track itself is named after its end point,
scenic Milford Sound.  Within only a couple of years tourists started
to arrive to walk what was described as the “finest walk in the
world”.  Quintin Mackinnon served as the first guide on the track.

Over a hundred years later and the
Milford Track is still the most famous walk in New Zealand.  It is
53.5 KM long and takes 4 days to walk.  Nowadays though, people have
the option of being guided or walking independently.  Guided walkers
sleep in huts with showers and have their meals prepared for them,
even getting wine with dinner.  Independent, or Freedom walkers as
they are called, stay in basic huts with large bunkrooms to sleep and
communal kitchens.  No showers.  They have to carry all their own
food and prepare it at night. 

We signed up as independent walkers
back in July.  But to be honest we didn’t even know that there was
the option of having a guided walk.  There were plenty of times
during the walk that we would have welcomed not having to carry our
food and to have a nice shower.

The walk follows the Clinton river, an
ice cold river of completely clear water, and then goes up over the
1100 meter Mackinnon pass and down to Milford Sound.  At the lower
altitudes we walked through lush primary forest, moss clung to all
the trees and rocks and there were pure water springs to fill our
water bottles.  On the morning of day three, the windy and cold
Mackinnon pass greets you after a rocky 600 meter ascent.  But the
views of the valley and nearby snow capped mountains are
breathtaking.

This was our first multi-day walk where
we had to carry our food, clothing and sleeping bag.  We
suffered a
bit from the slow ambling pace we got used to in Asia over the last 4
months.  We were usually one of the last walkers to reach the hut
every night.  But we were in no rush and took our time to enjoy the
scenery and take lots of photos.  As a result we have 383 pictures!
Don’t worry though we’ve only put 16 in the New Zealand album.