What an interlude!

Well... What a great past week this has been! Te Anau is a beautiful little town by the lake of the same name. Monday night, I sat on the lakefront and watched the clouds pass over the sunset. Tuesday was all go with organising food, equipment, etc. for the Track and also booking some other transport and activities. Wednesday morning, I set off with a couple of other people on our first (sunny) day on the famous Milford Track. We needed a boat to take us 2 hours up Lake Te Anau to the wharf where the track begins. This first day was actually lighter than I had hoped being only 1.5 hours walk to Clinton Hut, our first night's accommodation. By the end of the night, a total of 40 trampers were taking refuge in this huge hut. Obviously there wasn't much to do in the huts so we had to amuse ourselves, mainly playing card games.
The next day.. Rain, rain and more rain (I was told to expect it!).. We walked for about 6 hours through steep valleys riddled with raging waterfalls (more than I could count!), waded though knee-high rivers, mud, slippery rocks.. You name it. I was so glad to finally see our next stop, Mintaro Hut. The metal rack attached to the roof turned temporarily into a hanging department store with everything from boots, socks, tops, underwear and backpacks to cameras and sleeping bags all fighting to catch every last bit of warmth from the log fire below. I tell you though, the rain certainly made for a much more interesting day of tramping, thoroughly enjoyed by all (well.. most). That night.. more cards including Hearts, Nadia's game (a version of Hearts; we didnt know the name of it so just named it after the gal that showed it to us), Rummy and my favourite, Kings and Assholes (or just Asshole, or Shithead, or any other crude word you want to throw at me).
OK, the third day was the big one, the one you are supposed to have brilliant clear skies for... The rain had stopped and the skies were clear so a couple of us left just after 0700hr. We climbed to the highest point of the track, Mackinnon Pass (1073m), where on a clear day you can see down the entire length of the Clinton Canyon you had just traversed and also over the cliff's edge, cryptically named '12 second drop'.. However, soon after we left the hut it had quickly become overcast with clouds sitting well below the treeline. And I don't just mean your ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill cloudy, but visibility to maybe 30 metres cloudy!!! That was definitely disappointing (made worse by the fact that I didn't have the time or energy to come back up the next day when the weather was in fact fine) because I would have loved to have seen that, but my disappointment quickly faded when I started my descent down the other side of the Pass where the cloud had dissipated somewhat to reveal a beautiful valley and mountainous landscape before me (again plenty of waterfalls, still fuelled by the last night's downpour). The rest of the way down that mountain was simply spectacular, and I can definitely see why they could claim that this walk is the 'finest in the world'. After descending around 1000m we eventually arrived at our last hut of the track, Dumpling Hut, but not before taking a detour to one of NZ's largest waterfalls, Sutherland Falls. At 580m with only 3 tiers and an average volume of 11 cubic metres/second (the maximum recorded is a whopping 142 cub.m/s!), the power of this waterfall is just awesome: the wind being created at the base actually sounds like an aeroplane in flight (not to mention the drenching I received from getting so close).
Saturday, the last day, and the sun was shining again. We had another 5-hour walk ahead of us. This was relatively relaxed, although the rocks were no less slippery and I nearly went arse up.. Nearly.. We made it to Sandfly Point just after 1300hr, and had to wait there for an hour for our boat to pick us up and take us to the Milford Sound township. I now know why the place was given it's name, luckily I was prepared with the insect repellant this time though. Apparently there used to be a jail around there (they probably used the sandflies as a torture device), but we couldn't find any remnants of it.
It was also interesting to see the difference in quality of accomodation provided for the independent trampers (like myself) and the guided groups.. I guess that's to be expected though since they are paying around $1800 each for their 4-day experience! For that, they get their backpacks helicoptered between huts, refreshments, breakfast, dinner, lunch all cooked for them, beers, hot showers, etc. What a life hey? I almost felt sorry for them that they had to walk in the rain... Even more interesting was the fact that there actually was a bit of anonymity displayed between the two 'classes' whenever our paths crossed. Some inherent form of tribal allegiance...
When we returned to Milford Sound, I said goodbye to the great people I'd been hanging out with those past days, and then caught a cruise on the actual sound (which is in fact technically a fiord - a valley carved out by glacial movement, as opposed to a river valley back-filled by the sea). The sheer might of these mountains rising out of the sea.. Amazing. Although I've heard it's even better when it's raining as the waterfalls are out in force, but I think I've seen enough waterfalls to last me a lifetime now.. On the way back to Te Anau, we passed through the 1.2km Homer Tunnel. This tunnel, which slopes downward with a gradient of around 1:10 towards the sound, was dug through a granite mountain known as the Homer Saddle and the walls to this day remain unlined granite! A slightly eerie experience.
The next day, I drove down to Manapouri, just south of Te Anau, and hopped on another boat. This time, I was being taken to Doubtful Sound (again, another fiord) for an overnight cruise. Not only was the scenery fantastic, but we got to go kayaking, wildlife watching, and had a beautiful buffet dinner and breakfast with the lot! Mmmmmm! I especially enjoyed this after having just come off the Milford Track and eating tiny servings of packet pasta each night. I met a German gal by the name of Nicole here, she was great to speak with and we did so for most of the night and the next day. I was up until just after midnight watching the stars and clouds against the magnificent forest-covered mountains, then up at 0500hr to watch the sunrise (even though it was cloudy and no sun was actually seen) against the same stunning backdrop. At one point on our way back to shore, the captain shut off the engines, the generators, everything so that we could all sit in silence on the deck and just take in the sights and sounds.. Magical.

Just breaking this post up, but here's the first part. Much more to come (including pictures)...

Photos:
1. In the beginning... (1st day)
2. Just spectacular, VERY wet! (2nd day)
3. The Mackinnon's memorial on top of Mackinnon Pass (3rd day)
4. Looking over 12-second drop. Doesn't look too bad.. Does it?
5. Over the pass, we were hit with these beautiful views
6. Passing by one of the many rivers, I couldn't help but capture this
7. Sutherland Falls. Huge!
8. A bunch of Kiwis on the track - great guys (4th day)
9. Phew!
10. Milford Sound (see the boats?)
11. "My heart will go on" - Doubtful Sound around 0600hr
12. Found this stowaway on the deck after we had anchored for the night
13. Nicole and I
14. So colourful, so peaceful
15. Silence.. As the engines were switched off