This post begins the “Special Trips” experiences. I am excited to share some of my wonderful adventures. I will try my best to share the excitement and awe of travel without getting bogged down with every little event. This means that I am eliminating parts of each trip (tough job). In addition, even though all my trips are special to me, I will only post about the extra special trips or portions of trips. Consequently, I am leaving out many marvelous trips and if you want to read about them, just let me know.
New Zealand: March, 2000
As I said in post number 3, New Zealand was my first multi-week post retirement trip in 2000. What a perfect country to choose as the first adventure trip! Except for the long flight, and driving on the wrong side of the road, it was an easy place to visit. Obviously English speaking (though sometimes the accent made it seem to be a foreign language), comfortable hotels, laundry in all the rooms or on the hotel floor. There was spectacular scenery to see and low traffic on the roads (though driving on the “wrong” side was a challenge).
There is so much that is special about New Zealand, but I am only writing about swinging bridges and the Milford Track. I first encountered swinging bridges on a day hike in Mt. Cook. This area is spectacular and in order to do this hike, I had to cross a deep gorge using a swinging bridge. I don’t like heights, therefore crossing this chasm would have been scary even on a regular bridge, but to have the bridge swing as I walked…. Wow! As I approached the bridge, I looked at it and thought – never in a million years. And then one part of my brain said, “If you don’t do it now, you will have to cancel the Milford Track as well. Do it!” And I did.
It was heart stopping but I managed to look straight ahead and one step at a time, I did it. The payoff in scenery was awesome, but some of the payoff was the feeling that I conquered something important – my fear. We had scheduled only one night in Mt. Cook, but if I was planning this trip again, I would give myself at least 3 days to enjoy the area.
The Milford Track adventure: Before the Milford Road was completed in 1954, the only way to get to Milford Sound was by plane, by boat, or to trek through the mountains from Te Anna. The mountains between Te Anau and the Sound are incredibly challenging, with tons of precipitation in the form of rain or snow most of the year. The road requiring boring the mile long Homer Tunnel through the mountains. This took 19 years to complete. (WWII interfered).
It is still possible to hike from Te Anua to Milford Sound. There were two types of hikes available: independent hikes, where the hikers sleep in a lean-to, in sleeping bags, carry food for four days and do their own cooking. Or the 4-day group hike, (which I chose) with the Milford Track Guided Walk company. Incidentally, to keep the area from being over toured, only 40 hikers were allowed for each option per day.
The night before the trip began, our group met in Queenstown for a briefing. We were told to pack only one extra set of clothes, light shoes to wear in the cabin in the evening, a set of warm clothes for the mountain and the good solid rain coats that they provided. (I had my own raincoat, but they strongly suggested we use theirs. I did and I was happy that I did so.) Since we had to backpack our gear, and carry our lunch each day, every ounce would count. They suggested we not bring a book, but I couldn’t do that. I took my current paper back apart and only carried the section I hadn’t read yet. The need for heavy raincoats should have clued me into the fact that I was going to hike in rain.
The hike from Te Anua (we were bused from Queenstown to Te Anna) to the sound is 33.5-miles with some level hiking but also steep climbs up and down (3,000 ft) on uneven terrain.
Each day we hiked from lodge to lodge, where we slept in bunk beds – four to a room and had shared bathrooms. The lodges had warm showers (shared). Dinner and breakfast were served at communal tables. We carried our own pre-prepared lunch each day.
Each night we washed our hiking clothes and dried them in the “drying rooms” while we wore our change of clothes. The other hikers were very friendly therefore the dinners were tons of fun.
We had two guides – one in front and one in back between the 40 hikers. The walking was done at our own speed but a certain number of miles had to be covered each day in order to reach the next lodge.
The first day consisted mostly of a bus ride, a ferry ride through fjords and a short walk to the first lodge. Then a 2-mile (practice) hike. All group hikes take a practice hike to make sure that everyone in the group can hike. Post hike we socialized and had a briefing about the next day.
The second day we walked 10 miles on mostly level ground. We took lots of side trips to beautiful off trail places. We walked through a rain forest full of moss and ferns. At one off trail stop, the trees were covered by moss and it looked like fairyland. (This part of NZ gets about 360 inches of rain a year – NY gets 46 inches.) The weather was good – cool morning and warm (t-shirt) afternoon. Lunch was at a lovely place and the guides provided warm drinks.
Since everyone walked at their own pace, sometimes we didn’t see another person for an hour or so even if they were only 5 minutes ahead or behind. At the end of the hike, at the second lodge, we took showers and washed our clothes. Then we had afternoon tea and then time to relax before dinner. After dinner we had some spontaneous singing around the piano. It was a wonderful day.
The third day was the tough day. The day began with heavy rain and we had the prospect of walking for nine miles (8 –10 hours) in this rain. Spirits were high during breakfast and someone asked why we were in such good moods with the prospect of walking in the rain. Someone else answered that we were really hysterical, not happy.
The day’s hike consisted of a steep 3,000 foot climb for 4.5 miles then straight down for 3 miles. After a while I stopped feeling the rain and just walked. Glad to have their rain jackets, though. By 1 PM I was almost at the top where we were to have lunch. For the last 20 minutes at the top, it rained like crazy with blowing cold, cold wind. It was awful. I was very aware of the rain at that point and was afraid that somehow I had missed the hut in the fog. Finally, I saw the hut –a sight for sore eyes. It was wonderful to get inside, have hot soup and sit by the heater. I took off my wet shirt and put on a dry top plus another layer, a hat and gloves (it was cold up there). We ate, rested then started down.
At 2pm the rain finally stopped. The way down was hard. It was actually harder coming down, especially so steeply. Because of the morning rain though, all the mountains were full of waterfalls – at one point I could see over 30 of them. It was magnificent. At the lodge, we had a wonderful dinner. Everyone was in high spirits because we had done the tough part.
On our last day we walked 14 miles but mostly on level road. We walked at a good clip through more beautiful rain forests. We saw lots of wonderful birds, huge ferns (the size of large palm trees) and lots of moss. We finished the hike at 2:30pm and had our picture taken with the 33.5-mile sign. Then we took the ferry to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a beautiful place.
That night we stayed in a rustic type hotel but we had our own room and our own bathroom, therefore it felt luxurious. In the evening we had our celebration dinner. To sum up the trip: the walking was strenuous but not impossible and the beauty of the woods and mountains makes it worthwhile. It is incredible to be in the woods for 4 days and not have to deal with civilization – to just to get up in the morning and hike.
New Zealand has many more other attractions, but Mt. Cook and the Milford Track were in my top category.
Final comments: I learned a great deal from this adventure trips.
- I was glad the I used a specialized tour company, which provided advice and expertise that was invaluable. I also liked having the trip arranged in advance and the comfort of knowing where we would be sleeping each night.
- I learned that less is better when packing for a trip. I started out with three bags and soon realized that packing and unpacking so many bags was time consuming and unnecessary. I re-arranged the clothes and left one large bag in the trunk of the car, not to be re-opened until we arrived home again.
- I love hiking, even in the pouring rain. The Milford Track’s 40 people hike was large but since the hikers spread out, we could all walk at our own speed. The camaraderie in the evening was fabulous.
Nili's Adventure 