FlyerTalk Forums - New Zealand South Island (Milford Track and Sound, Abel Tasman, and more)

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)

- Trip Reports (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports-177/)

- - New Zealand South Island (Milford Track and Sound, Abel Tasman, and more) (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1449675-new-zealand-south-island-milford-track-sound-abel-tasman-more.html)

New Zealand South Island (Milford Track and Sound, Abel Tasman, and more)

If you don’t have the inclination to read through the entire report, I’ve duplicated the best photos at the very top of the report.

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/9192/95132969.jpg
Abel Tasman National Park

http://imageshack.us/a/img547/2647/31466176.jpg
Nelson Lakes

http://imageshack.us/a/img844/3753/90484208.jpg
Pancake Rocks

http://imageshack.us/a/img801/5338/62429847.jpg
Mackinnon Pass on the Milford Track

http://imageshack.us/a/img11/6172/60657832.jpg
Giant's Gate Falls on the Milford Track

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/6103/12265122.jpg
Milford Sound

The air travel was not overly remarkable, so I’ll cover it very briefly. Other contents include:
-The Milford Track, a 34 mile hike over 4 days with incredible scenery
-Abel Tasman National Park as a 2 day kayak
-Queenstown
-The Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers
-Curio Bay
-other scattered sites throughout the South Island

The flights were booked with UA miles. In the past year, transpacific award space on NZ has become as rare as hen’s teeth. As you can likely surmise, few people dream of United Economy in a 747 from San Francisco to Sydney on vacation, so there were plenty of award seats available. We chose to gamble on Business inventory opening up and lost, even with convincing the phone agents to charge us for Business up front and push the FF1/”displaced business passenger,” edge in the airport. Few of the agents in Chicago or San Francisco were familiar with the status, and the gate agents for our flight refused to research the issue because they were swamped and the flight was packed in Business and First anyway. Something similar happened on the way back.

United Economy in a 747 from SFO to SYD and back: clearly suboptimal. That said, it could have been worse. The FA’s were actually very professional and friendly, more so than the FA’s I’ve met in Domestic First over the last year. The food was minimally edible, but the seats were freshly reupholstered and the interior was actually looking pretty good. With the help of empty adjacent seats, neck-pillows, zolpidem, and light reading, we survived. The Sydney airport has public showers, and at the end of our 40 hour itinerary, I was actually reasonably refreshed and rested. It’s changed my view of flying in first or business versus economy. For day flights home from Europe to the East Coast, I might become a, “rather go twice than in first,” type. Another positive outcome: United messed up the Business to Economy refund process and so far I’m sitting on an 180% refund plus 5,000 miles from Customer Care for the apathy and inability of the ground staff to do anything with the displaced Business/First passenger status, making the total cost about 32,500 miles roundtrip to New Zealand.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4079/map1h.gif
Our itinerary

http://imageshack.us/a/img145/664/p2100001w.jpg
DTW-ORD in a CRJ-700

http://imageshack.us/a/img834/58/p2100008.jpg
The "Asian Pork" in UA Domestic First; fortunately it tasted better than it looked

http://imageshack.us/a/img23/8927/p2100018.jpg
The mountains east of San Francisco

http://imageshack.us/a/img248/9489/p2110022.jpg
United's Economy dinner

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/3984/p2110026k.jpg
United's Economy breakfast

Our SYD-AKL Air NZ flight was affected by an engine issue on our scheduled 767. Fortunately, we were swapped for one of their TPAC configured 747’s! Unfortunately, a baggage truck dinged a cargo door in Sydney, and our trans-Tasman flight was over 4 hours late. Air NZ was proactive in rebooking, and we were able to make the final AKL-NSN flight of the evening. Air NZ’s 747 economy product was slightly dated, but very enjoyable. The AVOD had a number of fresh selections including Lincoln and The Master. The catering was excellent for economy class, although looking a little LCC around the edges (soft drinks were an extra-charge, etc.).

http://imageshack.us/a/img842/508/p2110036k.jpg
Boarding SYD-AKL

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/3647/p2110046.jpg
Air NZ's economy lunch was slightly better than UA's catering

http://imageshack.us/a/img692/8967/p2120053s.jpg
AKL-NSN

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/3379/p2120058.jpg
AKL-NSN

Our first destination in New Zealand was Abel Tasman. Abel Tasman is a very beautiful national park with a number of kayak guides and rental outfitters operating in the region. We chose a “freedom” (unguided) rental from The Sea Kayak Company, put our camping gear in, and headed out for a two day, one way itinerary (return via water taxi) that included camping on a beach with no one else that was accessible only from the water. We encountered some rough seas that were a bit nerve-wracking, especially for my girlfriend. That said, if you were not able to effectively self-rescue, there are enough other kayakers and boaters out in the park that you could very likely summon help with a whistle or flare if needed before being overcome by hypothermia, winds, currents, or the other things that can pose a real risk to sea kayakers. In my opinion, having kayaked a couple times before, being a strong swimmer, and comfortable around the water is probably enough to do a freedom rental, but there are plenty of guided options too.

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/5442/p2130217.jpg
Abel Tasman National Park

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/1206/p2130263.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/438/p2130283a.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img856/8575/p...onemappedw.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img199/6544/p2130332.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img541/5176/p2130350.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/7299/p2130374.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/8453/p2140399e.jpg
Nelson Lakes

After leaving Abel Tasman, we headed south to Queenstown and the Milford Track. Among the highlights were the best meal of the trip at the Alpine Lodge in St. Arnaud, Pancake Rocks (be certain to go at high tide!), and the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/7636/p2140470e2.jpg
Pancake Rocks

http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7194/p2150540.jpg
Franz Josef Glacier

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/3036/p2150591e.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img838/2269/p2150606.jpg
Fox Glacier

http://imageshack.us/a/img32/9061/p2150635.jpg
The Fox Glacier valley; at the turn of the 20th century the glaicer extended past the last visible curve

http://imageshack.us/a/img96/9904/p2150683.jpg
Fantail Falls

http://imageshack.us/a/img839/9176/p2150705.jpg
The Blue Pools

http://imageshack.us/a/img5/7466/p2160741.jpg
Lake Wakatipu

Finally, we made it to Te Anau Downs to start the Milford Track.

The track passes through steep glacial valleys and by numerous natural wonders. It has been oft labeled, “the finest walk in the world.” Applying such a superlative about anything is probably never overly valuable, but as someone that has traveled extensively in natural areas, I will attest that the walk is something very, very special.

The track is a 34 mile hike over four days developed in the late 19th century by a guide named Quintin McKinnon. McKinnon and his successors ran the track as a commercial enterprise until the 1960’s when the “Freedom Walkers,” movement were able to open the track up to non-guided walkers. Currently, a guided walk runs between $2-4,000 while an unguided walk was $280 including three nights in huts and boats to and from the track. There is a limitation of 40 guided and 40 freedom walkers per day, although everyone walks in the same direction and guided and freedom walkers depart from separate huts, so we routinely waked alone for 1-2 hours at a time; in no way did the track seem crowded. The accommodations provided by the Department of Conservation huts are not luxurious, but they’re a heck of a lot easier than backpacking. Sleeping bunks with mattresses and gas stoves are provided in the huts. There is running water and flush toilets at each overnight hut. The water is generally considered okay to drink, but if you’re neurotic, boiling or treating it doesn’t hurt (we brought along a SteriPen). Aside from those accommodations, it’s sort of like backpacking in that you need to bring your own sleeping bag and food. Every hut was manned by a ranger that provided one or two rich and enjoyable nature and history talks nightly. The rangers also compared names in the huts with the expected itineraries to ensure that people were making progress on the track. Overall, I would recommend freedom tracking to almost anyone except for people whose fitness level was very marginal for the track and couldn’t train, people who really just want to be pampered for the money (I heard excellent things about the huts and food provided for the guided trackers), and people that aren’t able to secure one of the limited freedom walking spots. I booked our spots about 6-7 months in advance, and availability is usually gone ~4-5 months out, although cancellations do occur. Flight award booking skills are probably very applicable to the Milford Track if you decide to do it late, but as far as I know Expert Flyer isn’t able to scan the DOC inventory for hut availability.

http://imageshack.us/a/img713/7452/p2160743.jpg
Our tickets for the Milford Track

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/2036/p2160750.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img818/8828/p2160771.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img10/3484/p2160772.jpg
The Huts

http://imageshack.us/a/img812/7784/p2160773.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img685/1785/p2160774.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img707/999/p2160775.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img827/7416/p2170786.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img27/4784/p2191177.jpg
Giant's Gate Falls

http://imageshack.us/a/img689/7894/p2191242g.jpg
The boat back to Milford

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/196/p2191253.jpg
Some of the other trampers we were hiking with

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/5678/p2191292.jpg
Milford Sound. For scale, the peak on the left (Mitre Peak) is 5,551 feet

http://imageshack.us/a/img163/5462/p2191413j.jpg
Stop clubbing, baby seals.

http://imageshack.us/a/img163/2475/p2191441.jpg
Milford Sound

http://imageshack.us/a/img19/7882/p2191454.jpg
Milford Sound

After completing the track, we were happy to indulge in some of the more sedate tourist options of Milford including a cruise on the sound, a decent bar (The Blue Duck), and a “cabin” at the Milford Lodge. The cabins were basic, but the luxury of privacy, clean sheets, and hot food prepared by someone else was awesome following the track. The Sound and drive out of Fiordland were astounding. I’m from Colorado and accustomed to mountains, but the Sound features peaks rising straight from the sea to over a mile in height. The sheer drama of the landscape surpassed everything else I had experienced.

http://imageshack.us/a/img547/5320/p2201462.jpg
Our "cabin" in Milford, not bad

http://imageshack.us/a/img27/4397/p2201481.jpg
More glowworms

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/7281/p2201506.jpg
Milford Sound

http://imageshack.us/a/img23/599/p2201537.jpg
The drive back to Te Anau

http://imageshack.us/a/img834/9638/p2201542.jpg
Homer Tunnel

http://imageshack.us/a/img708/6229/p2201546.jpg
The Alpine Fault of the Fiordland Mountains

http://imageshack.us/a/img845/2737/p2201553.jpg
The current sheep to human ratio on the South Island is about 8 to 1. Hopefully they won't rise up against the government.

Leaving Fiordland, we headed to the southern tip of the island including Curio Bay. Curio Bay features a 180 million year old petrified forest and is the nesting ground for rare yellow-eyed penguins. We waited in vain for over three hours in the cold to see the penguins waddle up to the nesting grounds, but gave up when the light gave out. The penguins are supposed to be a “guaranteed,” wildlife experience because they have to return to their nest and chicks nightly after hunting in the sea, but for some reason they sat out preening and drying until very late dusk on our visit. Ce’st la vie. What luck that the next morning we were treated to a penguin that wandered directly into our campsite. While keeping a respectful distance, we had the privilege of observing the penguin for close to an hour.

http://imageshack.us/a/img593/7176/p2211571.jpg
Curio Bay

http://imageshack.us/a/img855/6022/p2211609.jpg
The Curio Bay petrified forrest (~180 million years old). There's a yellow eyed penguin hiding at the top.

http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7439/p2211634.jpg
And the next morning there was one in the campground.

http://imageshack.us/a/img543/8239/p2211636.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/926/p2211648.jpg
Purakaunui Falls

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/9614/p2211665.jpg
Nugget Point

Brilliant report with some fantastic pictures! I'm very envious now but I'll have to try the Milford Track some day. What were the dates of your trip? Did people recommend certain months over others? You mentioned you've been on quite a few other great treks, what are some of your favorites?

Amazing! I did a very similar trip report on the Milford Track and South Island about a year ago and your pictures simply put mine to shame. What kind of camera did you use? Thanks for sharing! ^

Brilliant pictures. I did the Abel Tasman with a guided tour, which I can also recommend. Your story convinced me to do the Milford Track the next time.

Makes me very sad, that we did not walk the Milford Track ... the pics are beautiful.

But we did, as a compensation, the Tongario Apline Crossing. In "Alpine Conditions" ... ;)

Thank you for posting these beautiful photos. It looks like you had an amazing time.

Excellent TR and even better pix! Thanks for posting.

What - no kea pictures? Honestly, your superb pictures do great justice to New Zealand, as does this report. It was nice to see McKinnon Pass under better conditions. When I hiked the Milford back in 1984, we enjoyed a beautiful first day followed by nothing but rain for the rest of the trip. Climbing up and over McKinnon we were lashed by driving rain and 60 mph winds. Down in the valley, the Ada river had risen to the point where we were walking through waist deep water in parts of the track. Still, it was a great walk and your beautifully photographed report has been a nice stroll down memory lane.

I never did do the Abel Tasman - even back in the 80s and 90s it was a very busy track. Instead a did the Heaphy and Nelson Lakes tracks as well as all the ones out of Queenstown. I understand the Routebourn is reservation only now. I used to practically commute to Milford on that track. I knew all the hut wardens, most of whom brewed their own beer!

Very enjoyable report, thank you for sharing. I've long wanted to go to New Zealand but this only heightens the desire. Your glowworm pictures were my favorite btw.

OP, excellent photos! I was just there over the past 2 weeks and loved it. Didnt do the Milford trek but definitely toured the area. Awesome!

Awesome report, thanks for sharing! I'm certainly no 'greeny', but it's sad to see how much the glaciers have receded since I was last there:( I was up in the Mt Cook/Pukaki Region a few weeks ago and the scenary, whilst different to Milford, is no less spectacular.