HOME GROWN FIORDLAND

Hiking

In the late 1800’s the route between Piopiotahi Milford Sound and the head of Lake Te Anau was re-discovered by the two intrepid explorers Quintin McKinnon and Donald Sutherland. The trail was subsequently developed into what we now know as the Milford Track. It took only a matter of years for this walk to be hailed internationally as “The Finest Walk in the World”. Over 100 years on and the Milford Track still holds its own as an internationally recognized hiking trail.

Of course, for hundreds of years before then the route was known to Maori as a pathway for transporting takiwai, a unique form of pounamu greenstone from Piopiotahi Milford Sound inland so it could be traded. Having walked this track several times and having been exposed to the elements and ailments you can experience I am in awe of the human spirit that took on the exploration of places such as Fiordland. Fiordland was designated as a National Park in 1952. It covers about 12,000 square kilometres and is one of the largest National Parks in the world – larger than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined. Interestingly the adventures that beckon many to these northern hemisphere destinations can be found in Fiordland. There is something for every level of adventurer from those who aspire to scale big walls to those who have never set foot in the wild. Fiordland is as safe, accessible and comfortable as you want it to be.

Tramping New Zealand has nine Great Walks, three of these are found in Fiordland; the Routeburn Track, Kepler Track and Milford Track. And in 2021 we will welcome the Hump Ridge Track to our ‘fleet’ of Great Walks. Great Walks are immensely popular with international visitors as they provide a degree of reduced risk associated with back country adventuring. But with international visitors being scarce for the time being there has never been a better time to head to Fiordland and see why it is described as the “Walking Capital of the World”.

Milford Track

I first walked the Milford Track when I was ten years old. It was a birthday present from my parents. I walked it with my dad who was managing the track for the Department of Conservation at the time. Being a child of Fiordland, even at that young age I knew that there was something special and significant about the Milford Track. I would go into those mountains and I would test my ten-year-old self against mother nature. But best of all, I would go with dad. Four whole days away with my hero in what I was sure was the greatest place