Milford 20 years later...

Currently we are in Kaikoura on the east coast of the South Island, noted for its abundance of sea life; seals, whales, shags, albatross, and dolphins.  We pulled another long day in the campa, driving from Lake Tekapo (sheep dog memorial town) to here, bypassing Christchurch, to put us closer to Picton and the Interislander Ferry, which will take us back to the North Island for our final week in New Zealand.

Our game plan on Saturday, March 16, is to hike around the peninsula here in search of seal colonies.  Mckayla is now obsessed with the NZ fur seal, so we are taking every opportunity we can to view them.  I foresee a stuffed seal (the toy kind) making its way into her duffel bag for the trip back to the states. :)

Mckayla's new favorite animal, the NZ fur seal.  Tonga Island, Abel Tasman National Park.

Our 4 days on the Milford Track were awesome, dry weather, which is unusual for that part of New Zealand.  Even Fiordland is experiencing the drought this summer.  The track was different than what I remember 20 years ago.  The DOC now allows 40 independent trampers per day, therefore the huts have been enlarged to hold 40, not the original 25 and they have flush toilets (big thumbs up from the girls, we had prepped them for pit toilets).  The kitchen facilities all included gas cookers (NZ for stove), sinks with running water, and ample space for fixing dinner, eating and chatting.  Each hut is now staffed with a Hut Ranger, two of which Skyler has mentioned in her post. 

I must say, that Ranger Ross and Ranger Catie were wonderful additions to our experience.  They both told hilarious stories sprinkled with dry Kiwi humor.  For example; Ranger Ross walks into the kitchen area (he is at least 6'5' tall with knobby knees and a long face) and calls out, "Is there anyone from Australia in here?".  An older lady raises her hand and he proceeds to pull a dead possum from behind his back and says, "Great, you can take this home with you, we don't want them anymore!".  Possums were introduced to NZ from Australia and have become an invasive pest that has decimated several of the bird species to the brink of extinction.  There is a program to catch and kill them and use their fur in garments (possum/merino blend is quite popular for scarves and hats).  This is not the type of possum we have in the states, they are quite furry.  The other name for them here in NZ is "squashum" because you see them squashed on the road (the slow ones). *There is a photo of the dead ones further down this page.  Catie did a great imitation of a female kiwi, sounds like a cat hacking up a fur ball, and a demonstration on how to use the toilet on the top of the pass and still look at the window (you had to be there to get that one).  We heard kiwis all night at Mintaro Hut, but never saw one.

Clinton Hut on the Milford Track, the first hut reached, only 5K from the start of the trail, home of Ranger Ross.

Mintaro Hut, at the base of Mackinnon Pass, home of Ranger Catie and the kiwis.

Two person solitaire in the Mintaro Hut.

Dumpling Hut, arrived here after 8 hours on the trail, along the Arthur River, the final hut on the trail.

Taking a break at one of the shelters below Mackinnon pass, checking the map to see how much more downhill was ahead.

The girls were the youngest people in our tramping group of 40, which included folks from Hong Kong, England, Belgium, Caldonia, Canada, Australia, Israel, United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany.  An international mix, all great folks who we enjoyed meeting and hiking with for 4 days.  We spent the evenings playing cards and eavesdropping on the multitude of languages being spoken in the hut.  At least the snorers in the group handed out earplugs to help us sleep.  Our days of hiking were at "Kid Speed", which meant plenty of time to admire the views and bird life.  Mckayla and I added to our life list and were pretty excited to have a black robin perch very close to us and see fantails fluttering through the tree tops. 

Mckayla and her little black robin friend.  If you stand still for 5 minutes on the trail, birds fly closer to check you out.

Whio or "blue duck", almost hunted to extinction by possums and stoats, recovery program going well, saw breeding pairs on the Clinton and Arthur Rivers.  The male makes a lovely call, the female growls.

Ranger Ross' dead possums, caught fresh that morning in a trap. There are over 200 traps along the Clinton River alone.

After 4 days of hiking and eating noodles and gorp, we were all pretty excited about our overnight on the Milford Mariner, hot showers and something other than pasta.  Twenty years ago, Mark and I did an overnight on the Milford Wanderer, the slightly smaller sibling boat to the Mariner.  The cost has definitely increased, but the Kiwi hospitality and humor was just as memorable.  They really put on a good show. Again, the girls were some of the youngest passengers except for a family from Washington, DC with a 7 year old girl and 12 year old boy who were traveling around the world in 2 months. We definitely regained some of the calories we lost on the hike and had a memorable experience sailing the fiord.

Aboard the Milford Mariner with the Tasman Sea in the background.  The girls have hot Milo (hot cocoa in NZ).

 Our return trip to Te Anau was aboard a TrackNet shuttle coach, complete with a funny Kiwi driver named Dave.  Impressive road out of Milford Sound which goes through the Homer Tunnel (1.2 km long, solid granite ceiling, and one lane).  We arrived back at our campsite to rest, do laundry, and get caught up on homework and email.

Our stinky boots airing out on the front of the Jucy campa.

Since the Milford Track, it has been long days of driving (for Mark) as we make our way back to the North Island and our final days in New Zealand.  We did stop in Queenstown for 2 hours, mostly to walk around and geek at the tourists.  Queenstown has really grown in 20 years, not the small, hip, adventure town it used to be.  While reading our Lonely Planet guide, I came across a restaurant named, Fergburger, which supposedly has the best hamburgers in NZ.  Well, after 4 days of mostly noodles (except for the buffet on the boat), we broke our semi-vegetarian diet and stopped in.  Wow, they were awesome; fresh NZ beef, homemade buns, quirky location, friendly staff (they brought the girls chips at no charge (fries in US) while we waited.  Some of you are aware that my nickname is "Ferg", so I just had to get a "Ferg Loves You" bumper sticker for my bulletin board at work.  As we walked out, full and happy, we found their bakery (Ferg Bakery) next door, just had to buy some sourdough bread for the road.  Yummy!  *See Mark's post for a picture of their menu.  I have a great photo of the girls chowing down, but haven't uploaded it to my computer yet!

We have 5 more days of adventure left, it has gone by way too quickly.  Cheers!