The Milford Track: “The finest walk in the world!”
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2024
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In the heart of Fiordland, lies a trail that has been described as the ‘Finest Walk in the world!’.
Part of a 2.6 million hectare UNESCO Heritage wilderness area, we venture in to this rugged and untamed wilderness to explore a journey so reputable that its capped numbers sell out within moments of their annual release.
The most well known and arguably rewarding of New Zealand’s great walks, the one and only Milford Track!
Chapters:
Introduction 0:00
Te Anau Downs - Mintaro Hut via Glade Wharf 1:57
We depart early from Te Anau downs with Fiordland Putdoors water taxi 🚤, a 1.5hr journey along half the length of NZ’s second largest lake, Lake Te Anau 💦. From our arrival at Glade wharf we start our 22.5km journey to the Mintaro Hut. Our hike begins in thick mossy forest 🌳, being greeted by Faintails (Piwakawaka), Tomtits and South Island Robins, some of which are a little too comfortable to approach us (especially when eating) 🐦. We spotted Kakariki, Kea’s overhead 🦜 and the occasional Weka hiking 🥾 along the Clinton River in the Clinton Valley, a significant glacial carved valley lined with towering peaks and cascading waterfalls. We arrive at the Mintaro Hut around sunset 🌄.
Mintaro Hut - Dumpling Hut via Sutherland Falls 18:51
We are awoken at the Mintaro Hut by the sound of a bunch of noisy Kea’s calling us out for playtime 🦜 at sunrise 🌄. After leaving the hut we make our steep 500m ascent to the highest point of the Milford Track at the McKinnon Pass which sits at just over 1,100m. At this stage we are in the clouds ☁️ so we take advantage of the McKinnon Pass Shelter to have lunch and wait 1.5hrs for the clouds to lift. The views are absolutely phenomenal! ⛰🙌🏻 we have full visibility down the Arthur Valley and the Clinton valley we came from looked like a sea of clouds ☁️ below us. We descend down into the Arthur Valley, spotting a Kaka 🦜 along the way. Passing countless amazing waterfalls and gorges we take the detour to Sutherland Falls, at 580m it is the highest in Australasia and one of the highest in the world! 💦 it is spectacular in the fading sunlight as we make our way down to the Dumpling Hut.
Dumpling Hut - Milford Sound via Sandfly Bay 33:33
Departing before sunrise 🌄 we head out in the dark with the hopes of potentially spotting Kiwi along the way. We continue along our path in the glacial carved Arthur Valley via the Boatshed shelter and the stunning Giants Gate Falls 💦. We follow Lake Arda to our final destination, Sandfly bay/mile 33.5. The end of our 3 day 58km journey (including 5km to Sutherland Falls). After a short water taxi ride 🚤 with Fiordland Outdoors we check out the wonder of Milford Sound returning back to Queenstown with Cheeky Kiwi Travel. The Milford Track, a walk declared as “the finest walk in the world!” by poet Blanche Baughan and we can certainly agree!
Amazed that more people haven’t watched your excellent video. The quality is exceptional. I’ve watched several this afternoon and yours is miles ahead of the others. The picture is so HD compared to others, it’s SO interesting. I’ve walked the Milford Track 3 times and would love to do another 3 and your commentary is superb. I loved your knowledge of the birdlife and the Maori names. I loved the way you imbibed the spirit of the Maori ancestors. After this last trip in January, I too have constantly thought about them. I’ve been wearing a piece of greenstone since then too.
It was so cool that you had the patience and quality of mind to wait at the McKinnon Pass shelter for the weather to clear. It was such a treat to see. I also had similar thoughts the past 2 times walking in the same spot on the decent towards Clinton Lodge.
It’s such a great walk. Your comment about the oxygen from the moss is so interesting too. I loved that last day walking through that greenery and for our group it rained all day so we had a thousand waterfalls.
Thanks, I’ll definitely watch your video again. The music was great too.
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed comment. I’m glad you appreciate the effort that went into making this video. Being a tour guide in Fiordland and the South Island certainly helps with knowing what to talk about, but we do put the same amount of effort into all our videos. You may be interested in watching our Routeburn video too and some of the other Tramps/Great Walks in NZ we have done. There is a lot of fascinating things in this amazing country!
My pleasure.
As for the birds, my first time on the Milford Track was 1982 and the forest was silent. Off course there was the every charming Robins. It was such a welcome surprise to do the Milford Track again in 2019 and to hear the forest full of birdsong. It can’t be overemphasised how much hard and successful work has gone into ridding the bush of introduced predators. My favourite bird is the Tui. I liked the way you recorded bird song too.
Another interesting thing is the spacing of the huts. Back in 1982, the huts were in different spots. Better than today. We were able to walk to the nearest hut to the zig zag and because the weather was good, we dropped our packs and walked up to McKinnon Pass. The next day it rained hard going over the pass. Now with the new Mintaro Hut, it’s actually a big day for older folks. And the spacing for the guided walks is woeful.
It’s a real shame in a way.
Thanks guys I enjoyed that ! Great camera work and background info .
You’re welcome, slowly covering all the NZ great walks! 😊
That was quite a walk. A good dander, as we would say in Northern Ireland!
Love the terminology. Will have to return to the Emerald Isle someday for a good dander!
@@GlobalTravelStories Like it
I love the relaxed pace and the music. Thank you so much for choosing fine weather and paying extra to travel out of season, also avoiding the crowds.
You’re more than welcome, glad you enjoyed it. Plenty more adventures to come!
Great video - I enjoy your commentary (and of course the gorgeous scenery 🤩) - I always learn a lot from your videos, whether it be about the wildlife, Maori history, or the unique geography. I also like that you do longer videos - I can settle in and really enjoy!
Thanks Jennifer, that’s exactly what we are aiming to achieve. I’m glad you are enjoying our videos. 😃
Thanks guys, by far the best video coverage of the Milford Track i have ever watched :)
Thank you, that’s awesome to hear! We have some on other NZ Great Walks, will definitely cover more in the future!
@@GlobalTravelStories Look forward to viewing them :)
I enjoyed watching you guys. So cool to see our friends like that.
Thanks man, I hope you guys get a chance to check out the track while you’re here!
Hi, Shane. It’s Ann from our wonderful Milford trip on Monday last. I enjoyed every minute and liked this video very much. Keep on with the travelling! I forgot to give you the link to my son’s channel which is:
m.ua-cam.com/channels/JFbKjPeEjMACCJRnRorR5g.html hope you like it!
Hey Ann, I’m glad you enjoyed our video and hope you guys got some ideas from it! I’ll be sure to check out your sons channel and give him a follow in return. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your trip!