Milford Track: 'World's finest walk' in danger of becoming just another bucket list tick
Dawn is hours away on a cool Fiordland night but the packed bunk rooms of Clinton Hut are seething with activity. Tramping boots stomp against wooden floors, bunks creek as their inhabitants fling their bodies around, and an urgent, sleep-fogged crescendo of angry whispers is building in the gloom.
“Shhhhhh,” hisses someone from a top bunk, directing their wrath towards the noisy hiking party who like to tramp in the dark, the New Zealand bush enveloping them in a silent black cloak.
“Shhhhh!” hisses another low voice, from the other side of the hut. “It is against the rules to be so noisy!”
The day before 40 strangers had set off from the tourist hub of Te Anau, full of energy and wearing fresh socks. Final flat whites were sculled at overpriced cafes and out-of-office signatures attached to emails.
In a soft, grey drizzle typical of this remote corner of
