Tramping New Zealand

DAY 22 - Milford Track 4/4

Today, when I emerge from the bathroom stall, the sweet young thing brushing her teeth turns, smiles, and says, "Good morning!"  Well, good or not, I must don my still-wet long-sleeved shirt and still-damp socks, which actually is not that big a drawback; for my shirt invariably is wet all day long anyway. 

Sunrise at Dumpling Hut

For the final lap of this tramp we get to play a game of "Beat the Clock".  It's about a 6-hour walk to the end of the track, where boats and buses will be waiting.  The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can get back to town and onto the computer.

It still is dark on the valley floor

Finally, some light helps me out

Mackay Falls

We're not sure what that is

Lake Ada

Dave and I have been marching along ahead of schedule, so there is plenty of time to find a decent viewpoint and stop for a snack.

One of many unfriendly sections of trail

Looking back

At the next swinging bridge there is a big traffic jam, because several hikers want to have their photographs taken while standing over the middle of the river.

The limit is supposed to be 5 hikers on this span

Giants Gate Falls

Now we see why.  That's the waterfall on the cover of the DOC brochure for the Milford Track.

The view downstream isn't bad, either

Trail maintenance is taken quite seriously here

Nearly an hour ahead of schedule, Dave and I arrive at trail's end, just as the one-o'clock boat arrives.  Perhaps we can exit even sooner than expected.

The boat is a welcome sight, because it means that we can stop walking now

Bob MacArthur's repair of Dave's pack has held up perfectly well

Unfortunately, a group of a dozen guided walkers shows up at this time, and they get first dibs at the available boat space; so we must wait about forty minutes for the next loop.

Here it comes again
A happy and satisfied group

It is but a 15-minute ride to Milford Sound Village

Kayakers on Milford Sound

End of the Milford Track experience

The route — south to north    ⇔

The Milford Sound Village Station resembles an airline terminal

There still remains the formality of a two-hour bus ride back to Te Anau and our lodging for the night at a place called, oddly enough, the Backpacker Hostel.  Despite having walked nearly 25 miles in the past two days, I don't feel particularly tired — that is, until I try to lug my 75-pound suitcase up the stairs to the room.  Ugh.

Our digs are in the upper corner

On the way over to the other hostel to pick up our luggage from the lockers, Dave detours to the grocery store; so I stop and have a pie — my first.  It's not very big, but the chicken and bacon mixture is delicious.  In fact, it's the best meal I have had in New Zealand.

On the street are a couple of amazing rentable vehicles featuring pedal-power.  The second one is truly bizarre.

Seating for four
Seven riders face each other on this one

Finally, I set up my laptop in the hostel's TV lounge.  Before long, a dozen Germanic types come in, turn out the lights, and proceed to view a rerun of Lord of the Rings.  Although that series is wildly popular around here, having been filmed locally, it bored and depressed the hell out of me before, and now it is doing so again.

More importantly, however, is the fact that, because there are no overhead lights, I cannot see the computer keyboard, so my productivity is crippled.  I cannot wait for the movie to end, though, because it is more than three hours long; therefore, I can only pack up my stuff for the night and leave.

I also realize that I have not seen my Garmin GPS for quite a while.  A thorough search comes up with nothing; so I guess that that $170 unit can be added to the growing lost-and-not-found list.  We had best head home soon, before I start losing cameras as well.