Tramping New Zealand

DAY 19 - Milford Track 1/4

This tramp is highly touted as the finest walk in the world.  Whether it is that remains to be seen; but I am hopeful.  In any case, it won't be worth all that much unless the weather is good.  The forecast offers some hope of a rain-free trek.

The breakfast workstation

The restroom door icons are kinda cute

Because we are returning here to Te Anau after the tramp, Dave and I each spend another $2 on a secured locker for our luggage.  The fact that we will not be rooming at this hostel again is deemed immaterial.

While Dave gets our reserved tickets at the DOC Centre, I purchase a tube of Aloe Vera, hoping it will help to relieve my itching hands and head.  Also, Dave is sniffling a lot, indicating that he has contracted a cold; so I give him all of my daytime decongestant pills.

Te Anau Lake in the morning

My pack is anxious for more attention

Our bus driver explains about converting over to daylight savings time on the upcoming weekend, but stops when someone points out that he is a week ahead of himself.  The New Zealand conversion date is April 2.

After the bus ride, getting to the trailhead involves a boat trip across the top of Lake Te Anau.  What fun!

This ride will take an hour and a half

On board, the hot coffee is most welcome

An island memorial

Our upcoming venue

It is cold and breezy on the boat, of course, but:

Dave, who is virtually impervious to cold, says, "That's ridiculous!"

Many trampers will be joining us for four days

At the trailhead

This guy is preparing for action

An unusual reflection of a swinging bridge

Is that an eel out there?  No, just a log.

There actually are a lot of eels in the rivers around here.

Yet another boot-sterilization station

After less than two hours of walking, our day is done.

Clinton Hut

This facility is nicer than the others in one respect — the common area has a couple of skylights.  The enforced semi-darkness of certain other huts gets old pretty fast.

This bunkroom houses eight
Right on

Here, the bathrooms are in a detached building.  That's a minor nuisance for me, because I have no alternate shoes to wear; therefore, I must traipse across a damp dirt trail in my hiking socks, it being deemed too much trouble to put my boots back on for such a short time.

More fly bites than ever on my right hand

This guy is making good use of a knothole

View from the hut

That sign says "Hula Hoop"

Dave tries his luck

Because today's walk was known to be so short, there was an opportunity to carry in something better than normal for dinner, even something perishable.  Dave's answer to that is two big cans of soup — Chicken Mushroom and Moroccan Bean.  Having nothing resembling a frying pan, our choices are severely limited.

I also have packed in a bottle of Sprite, which still has a bit of fizz even at dinnertime.  It will be replaced by some orange-flavored powder resembling Tang, which I should have thought of many treks ago.  Dave has some red wine for himself, and we even picked up a stove-lighter at the grocery store.

Awaiting the ranger-guided walk
The Man with the Turquoise Hair

The undergrowth is 300 years old
Nice flowers

The ranger explains the habits of the amazing robins

Dig a trench, and it will investigate for worms — even on your boots

Nifty rock on a bed of color

Dave has brought along a deck of cards, which he uses to play a lot of solitaire.  We also indulge in a game of cribbage, which I haven't played in years.  Perhaps that's why I win the game.

And perhaps I am the only one to consider another option.  I have toted a special plastic bottle 7,000 miles just to relieve myself of the need to head for the bathroom during the night.  Having used it virtually every day, it has been a godsend.  Tonight, however, I am unexpectedly compelled to make that tough trip across the damp sand anyway, because my bottle already is full.

You want details of a tramp?  You get them all!