1:54pm, Clinton Hut
Still dry right now, but for how long? Nasty sandflies everywhere here too… We got up with the 7:20am alarm, and could hear our neighbors shuffling about through the thin walls. After driving up to the kitchen, we cooked eggs with pre-cut veggies and bacon. I ate my last banana. We grab our fresh food from the fridge to pack in our tramping gear, and leave the hostel on schedule. First stop is the Holiday Park in Te Anau, to store our luggage during the Milford track, as we'll be leaving our car at a insecure car park for 4 days. Turns out we can use the same locker we used for Routeburn, at no additional cost, and this time we fill the huge cabinet with all our non-tramping gear. Second stop is the DOC to check on the latest weather. Still super rainy forecast for the next 4 days. There's a storm warning for 300mm of rain (~1ft) in the next 24hrs. What can you do? It's nice out now at least. Lastly, we make the 24km drive up to Te Anau Downs, and park the car next to a few others in the small lot. We're early, and wait 20 minutes before boarding the boat. Aside from 1 other couple, the rest of the 40 passengers arrived in a large bus. There are only 40 bunks in the huts, and no camping on the Milford trail, so it's a much small crowd than the Routeburn. There is a guided (mega expensive) option with separate lodges/huts too, and we guessed that many people on the boat this morning were part of the guided group, based on the size of their packs.
The 10:30am boat took 1hr 10min to deliver us to the start of the Milford Track, across Lake Te Anau, the largest lake on the South Island. The captain pointed out some natural features along the way, and noted that we passed the 45 degree latitude, exactly halfway between the south pole and equator. The mountain scenery across the lake was pretty, and the air/wind was warm. It was coudy out, but visibility was fine. We helped ourselves to some of the tea on board, and hung out on the roof of the boat for most of the trip.
The start of the Milford Track lies at the end of this lake...
We passed a memorial on the lake. It was breezy on top, but the air wasn't too chilly...
The 2nd pic is a look up the valley we were be hiking the next 2 days...
When we departed the boat, we had to walk through bins of algae killer, since a certain non-native bacteria is spreading like made in NZ, and bio-security is doing all they can to prevent spores from spreading. With sterilized boots, we started hiking ~11:45am on an easy road.
The trail was like a well groomed gravel sidewalk through pretty forest...
We reached Glade Hut in 1km (the guided groups hut), continued across a swing bridge, and hiked along side the peaceful green river. No rain to speak of yet. Our fast pace kept us in front of the pack.
A look back across the calm waters of the river...
We opted to follow a sign for a side trail that said, "Big Red Beech Tree - 2 minutes". It wasn't all that spectacular, and arguably not worth the 2 minutes. :-)
A couple pics of the green gentle river...
A sign pointed to the "swimming hole", but not very hot out today. A side trail led to the Clinton Hut...
There was a slight mist developing as we arrived at Clinton Hut ~12:35pm. What a short day! Just 50 minutes on the trail… We were the 1st to arrive, and grabbed some bunks close to the common room. It was with disappointment that we noticed the bathrooms were detached from the other buildings. We thought the fabled Milford would have the highest quality huts (implying a covered walkway to the bathroom). This won't be good for the heavy rain tonight… The Routeburn huts were a bit nicer. The sandflies are thick here, both inside the bunk room and outside.
We noticed lots of older people, families, and non-hardcore hikers (based on their attire and gear). Wendy and I may be the most experienced of the group, at least based on the people from the boat. Some may be guided walkers, and there's still another boat arriving this afternoon. We head to the lounge and cook up some hot water, heat up the leftover steak with chutney, and eat it with salad.
A couple pics as I walk back from the helicopter pad...
There were hula hoops around, for our amusement...
I see the (other) famous Peter Jackson is the hut warden! I've read about him being one of the wardens on the Milford Track sometimes. Glad we happened to catch him during our stay.
5:58pm Clinton Hut The rain has hit. It was nice out until ~3:45pm. Still nothing heavy yet. We spotted a group of 4 playing 500, and another guy (Dan, from Israel) was asking everyone if they played bridge. We ended up teaching him 500 (3 handed), and played a long game, which he won. Then we took a rest on our bunks. There were lots of empty bunks, until the 2:30pm boat crew arrived. This batch was younger. Maybe the kind who would rather sleep in than get up early to take a boat for a 1hr hike. Wendy and I return to the lounge, drink 2 more pots of hot honey water, and play Rummy 500, now finally keeping score (Wendy was ramped up enough). The warden offers a nature walk at 5pm, but we decide to stay inside to keep dry and play cards.There's lots of commercially packaged meals here. Not as much culinary creativity as on the Routeburn and Rees Dart. 10:06pm, Clinton Hut. Uncertainty awaits us tomorrow given the severe weather forecast. We could be stuck here a day, or wade through rivers, or ??? After several hands of rummy (score Matt 445 - Wendy 485), we started dinner. This would mark a first for us: Fresh chopped scallions and white onions (pre-cut), mixed with ground beef (~1.5lb spiced with ketchup, mustard, garlic), cooked in a small pot, and added to a lettuce, spinach, tomato, and cheese salad. Boy did we ever get the place smelling tantalizing. I've never heard so many people say, "Boy it smells good in here," when walking into a hut at dinner time. Indeed it was delicious, and a new favorite.
Mmmm... Ground beef salad, a treat on a tramp...
After dinner, we chatted with two younger couples from Holland and the US. We talked about NZ tramps, attractions, sandflies, and food (they were interested in our homemade dehydrated meals). They were both in the country for longer stays (3+ months). In fact, during the course of our trip, we haven't met any people on "short" 2-3 week trips. Hard to do justice over the whole country in such a short time. Most people count their trip length in months.
Then PJ made his appearance to give the "hut talk". The orange haired, and heavily bearded, Peter Jackson, avoided any reference to the more famous movie director of the same name, and gave an entertaining, dry-witted talk about hut safety, the birdlife in the area, and the threats by non-native invaders. Animal life in NZ originated without many land animals, just mainly birds of all sorts. Lots of the birds evolved into big heavy non-flying creatures, due to lack of predators. But when the islands were colonized, animals were introduced, wreaking havoc on the natural ecosystem. When farmers complained that rabbits were eating too much grass, they introduced rats and stouts (like a weasel), to help reduce the rabbit population, but in doing so, ended up causing an out of control predator that feasts on native birds. PJ pulled out a stuffed stout in mid sentence, which surprised everyone. There are tons of traps set along all the trails in NZ, hoping to reduce the rat/stout/possum population. Eventually, PJ brought up the news we were all anxious to here: The weather. Indeed the forecast was bad, and he always used the word "hopefully" when talking about tomorrow's hike. He said we couldn't leave until he gave an update tomorrow morning. We may have to stay another day if the river is too high, or we may go as a big group, led by him. Or possibly, a helicopter might fly us past the unsafe zones (it's happened before)! I hope we aren't stuck here and delayed a day, else we can't fit in the Hump Ridge tramp after this. Wendy has long hoped for the helicopter ride, ever since I told her there could be a possibility several days ago.
After PJs hut talk, the other US couple plays Michigan Rummy. We'll plan on teaching them some other card games later.
The rain lets up a bit when using the bathroom this evening. The rain is supposed to peak after midnight and not stop till tomorrow night or the following morning. Our alarm is set for 6:30am, so we can be ready for a potential early departure. 2 of the bunks are empty here. A Japanese couple were a no-show. Those are valuable hut tickets gone to waste. This track sells out 6 months in advance… PJ is cool.