Milford Track Introduction: Wellington to Te Anau February 10-13, 2001 part of the New Zealand section on muellerworld

At 5:00am, I woke up in Wellington, 1,000 kilometers away from the start of the Milford Track. My pack was loaded up and ready to go. After a quick shower I walked right past my refridgerator, which held some of my food for the next 4 days and drove to pick-up Tim, my Australian hiking partner.

We both live and work in Wellington, and could only spare 4 days to attempt the 54.1 kilometer hike. Our work schedules dictated that, so we accepted the hurried nature of our trip, knowing that the relaxed pace of the track would moderate it. We arrived at the airport at 6:30am and were quickly on a plane to Christchurch. Air New Zealand had a short lay-over planned for us, and we changed planes from a Queenstown-bound jet to a Dash-8 headed for the bottom of New Zealand: Invercargill.

Tim had been clever in his packing, and I thought maybe a little light in his gear, but I was certainly jealous of his tiny 12kg pack! While I had to check my 18.5kg monstrosity, he was allowed to carry his on. My carry-on camera pack was only a little smaller than his pack for 4 days!

We were seated towards the front of the plane, and I was already taking photos out the window when the flight attendant came by for the first time. He asked if I wanted to take my camera to the cockpit and talk with the pilots and check out the view. I readily agreed and Tim let me slip past him and head up a few rows to the front of the plane.

No sooner did I say "Hi, guys", did the pilot say, "so, you're with Lord of the Rings."

It wasn't so much a question as a fact. I stammered, but came up with "..uh..ya. How'd you know that?"

He said they had been flying "us guys" all over the South Island for over a year, and then the co-pilot started pointing out shooting locations that were about 100 kilometers away.

"Ya, you guys were up there for months. Then you were down there". I suppose his arm motions were supposed to alleviate my confusion. They only added to it. He was referring to a few of the many filming locations that were used for filming during the principal photography phase of a movie currently in post-production in New Zealand.

I pointed to the Mt. Cook Massif and named a few of the peaks heading north from the highest peak in the country. The co-pilot filled in a few that I had forgot the names of.

Where are you from?" the pilot asked.

"A little bit of everywhere, I suppose. But I grew up in the midwest US."

"I grew up right down there", he said rising from his seat and pointing across the cabin towards the endless farmland of Canterbury.

I guessed: "Ashburton... Timaru?"

"Just outside Ashburton", the pilot said. "Looks like pretty good weather down there".

Since my happiness and comfort levels for the next four days was heavily dependent on the weather, I took his prompt to ask if they had heard of anything blowing off the Tasman Sea that might cause me any worries. The pilot rustled around for a faxed weather chart and he and the co-pilot examined it quite seriously for about 30 seconds before either said anything. Then they both pointed and spoke at once:

The pilot was marginally concerned about a little northward curvature in a high-pressure zone, but the co-pilot said that he thought it would blow off, just south of Te Anau. The pilot agreed, but added that he thinks that we'd have one afternoon of moisture. Maybe.

Some messages were coming in on the radio, and the co-pilot answered immediately and with a long string of official airplane sounding jargon. I took it as my cue to leave. We were just heading into a cloud bank, so even the pretty views were departing. I thanked them for their hospitality and left. In my fun, I hadn't noticed that the flight attendant had also started inviting other propel with cameras to the front, and I had been hogging the good views for much too long... Tim poked his head into the cockpit with his mini-DV camera and met the pilots.

Invercargill

"Most foreigners get the $7-a-day excess liability coverage" the attendant said.

"No thanks".

"I really recommend it", he countered.

"No thanks".

"You have to be really careful down here. Anything can happen".

I was unconvinced and initialed all the little boxes that confirmed that I had been warned and still (against all good and apparent judgment) refused the $2,000 excess coverage. The car was pretty typically a New Zealand hire-car. It was a manual 5-speed and had many dents and scratches, but otherwise seemed fine. The agent had even pre-filled out the damage inspection card for me, and much to my astonishment, it was really detailed and accurate.

In the 5 minutes it took for my pack to materialize, I called the Great Walks Booking Desk in Te Anau to let them know that I was on the way to pick up my tickets and catch the 1:15pm bus to Te Anau Downs.

Invercargill was pretty small for a town of just over 50,000 people. It sometimes gets the distinction of being the most southern city in the world, over-looking Bluff (which may or may not be a city) which is about 25 kilometers farther south (not to mention Ushuaia, Argentina). Its most touristy claim-to-fame is that it is a jumping-off point for tramping adventures on Stewart Island.

Route 6 is one of the main roads on the South Island, running from the north end all the way down to Invercargill. We were going to be flying up Route 6, in an attempt to get to Te Anau in less than 2 hours.

Te Anau

By 1:00pm we were parked in the DOC "overnight parking area" at the far side of the building (entrance off the adjacent street) and putting the final touches on our choice of clothing and packs. I loaded in my cameras and accessories, bringing my pack's total weight to about 20kg (44lbs). There was a small crowd gathered near the front of the DOC building and shortly a small bus appeared with a trailer that would accommodate all of our packs.

The bus driver announced that it was time to go "up to the Downs" and we all piled in.

Tim sat in front of me on the single-seat left-side of the bus. Couples and groups gravitated towards the dual seats on the other side of the narrow aisle. As we left Te Anau, bound for the dock at Te Anau Downs, a very annoying conversation started at the back of the bus. A man and a woman proceeded to try to out-do each other for the next 26 kilometers.

If one had been to Queenstown, the other had been to Queenstown twice. If one had once had tea in a fancy restaurant in London, the other one preferred the home-made crumpets at a different restaurant near by. It went on and on, interrupted occasionally by the interesting ramblings of the bus driver and tour guide.

"Lake Te Anau is the largest lake on the South Island and the second-largest in New Zealand"

Shortly out of Te Anau their game of one-upmanship was quieted for a moment while we all strained to look across Lake Te Anau to see some glow-worm caves that probably couldn't really be seen.

"There are three main fiords on the west side of Lake Te Anau", the driver offered, "they are appropriately named the South, Middle and North Fiord".

The conversation at the rear of the bus turned to speculation if they could see the mountains we would soon be hiking in (you can't see them from there was the actual answer, but not the ones given).

Mercifully, we reached Te Anau Downs and unloaded the trailer. Everyone started taking photos and starting their photographic journal of their Milford Track Experience. I was certainly no exception.

We formed a single-file line and walked down the wharf to the boat. There was a minor traffic jam as the crew collected our tickets for the 1 hour and 10 minute ride to the north end of Lake Te Anau.

Seven weeks earlier I had been in this exact same spot, doing the exact same thing, only then it was raining very hard. The short wait seemed to take forever, and we were all questioning when the hell we were in for during the next few days. This time, we leisurely strolled onto the boat and piled our packs at the rear near the steps to the upper sundeck.

Tim and I chose seats next to the window on the right, three rows behind the captain's chair. We were about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, so we just rested for a minute, and then we were overrun with a huge group of Guided Trampers. Most were Japanese and wore all the stereotypical tourist-tramper stuff like tracksuits, gold jewelry, and other glittery clothing. They didn't look like they were ready for four days in the wild, but then again, they would be having hot showers every evening while us Freedom Walkers would be silently noticing how stinky each other was getting.

The boat was suddenly full and we were off. The captain made the obligatory safety announcements, told the history of the boat (it used to shuttle trampers and tourists to Stewart Island from Bluff), and then as we cleared the small bay, he ramped up the throttle, making good time through the choppy water.

A hearty few climbed the steep stairs to the upper deck, risking loosing their hats and sunglasses to the strong winds, while a few others sat in the wind at the rear of the boat near the backpacks. Tim and I wandered around and took some photos and video, but pretty much stayed where we were for most of the trip.

The captain assumed the role of tour guide and commented on the depth, length and width of Lake Te Anau. He chronologically told about the history of exploration in the region and slowed a few times to point out some noteworthy sights on a few of the small islands along the way. Two of the more interesting things were small caves that the Maori Explorers used to shelter themselves from the elements as well as hide from other groups of Maori. The other one was a small cross that was placed near the spot where on of the early white explorer's boats was found sunken, with only the mast sticking out of the water. His body was never found.

As we got nearer to the north end of the lake, it became narrower, and as we approached Glade Wharf, the lake gave way to soaring, steep mountains, and the wide mouth of the Clinton River.

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