At this posting, I've completed the Milford Sound and hopefully (more on this later) start the Routeburn tomorrow morning.
There were 39 of us that left on the bus. I would say that I was close to the median age of the hikers (I think the cost moves the average up). We left Queenstown on a bus and then took a ferry to the beginning of the trail. You carry all your own gear (about 30-35 pounds) and hike from lodge to lodge. They feed you at the lodges and even have beer and wine. Not a bad way to hike! http://www.ultimatehikes.co.nz/mt_home.asp
Dinner was fantastic. I was signed up to sleep in the dorms (4 to 6 hikers), but ended up with a dorm all to myself.
The first day was a beautiful day (they use the word "fine" in their weather forecasts). It was a
pretty flat terrain as it followed a river. We did 10 miles, so it was a good way to warm up. Went swimming where this waterfall comes down off the rocks. The thought is that the water, which is coming from melting snow, warms up on the rocks on the way down. I think
it warmed up to at least mid 40's! It was invigorating. Needless to say, there were only a select few that took advantage of this opportunity.
This time I was assigned to a dorm room with three women. They decided that there was an extra room, so I elected to move.
Next day was the big day, with going over Mackinnon pass. Nine miles and 800 meters of elevation climb and then 1,000 meters of drop. Unfortunately, the weather was not "fine". Rain varied from steady to heavy, with a little chunky rain (snow) at the pass.
Winds were a nice steady 20 to 30 miles per hour. I did fairly well and made good time as there wasn't a lot to see with the rain. I was the 4th one to the next lodge. The trail cuts across a number of streams, waterfalls, etc. I 
was able to skip across most of them from rock to rock. The hikers at the end of the day were going through knee deep water to ford the streams.
After dropping off the packs, did another three mile hike to see Sutherland Falls, the 5th tallest falls in the world and the tallest in NZ at 580 meters. Needless to say, with all the rain, it was really coming down. If any of my pictures come out, I'll post them.
About 9:30 that night, there was an earthquake. Not a real surprise for NZ. It wasn't too bad, but a number of people had never experienced one before.
Next day was a 14 mile hike to Milford Sound. It was supposed to be pretty flat, but don't believe everything they say. Some good up and down, and the legs were still feeling the night before. Took a ferry to Milford Sound to the next lodge. This was really our last day of hiking Milford Sound.
That night the winds were very strong and the rain kept coming down. In the morning some of the windows in the lodge were broken by the winds. Our schedule was to take a cruise around Milford Sound. There was a lot of rain, and this made for numerous waterfalls. Probably 10 at any one glance. Once again, I'll try and get some pictures posted.
Came back from the cruise and found out that the road out was closed to to trees down and a number of landslides. Estimate to get the road reopened is three days. The only way to get us out was helicopter, but it was still windy and raining. After a delay, they got a couple of helicopters (this was an added bonus to the trip!) and could take 6 people at a time. Two up front with the pilot and 4 in the back. It was an interesting perspective. We had headphones on so the pilot could tell us what was going on. We went down this one valley and then needed to climb over a peak, except the peak was covered in clouds. We tried going up a couple of times, but couldn't see. Finally, there was a little break in the clouds and we were able to pop over the mountain. It was a little tense. We could then see the road below and all the landslides. Lots of work for someone.
Tomorrow, I hope to start the next leg of the hike. Some people did start it today, but were unable to get there by road, so they helicoptered them in. I may get a second "free" helicopter ride!
There were 39 of us that left on the bus. I would say that I was close to the median age of the hikers (I think the cost moves the average up). We left Queenstown on a bus and then took a ferry to the beginning of the trail. You carry all your own gear (about 30-35 pounds) and hike from lodge to lodge. They feed you at the lodges and even have beer and wine. Not a bad way to hike! http://www.ultimatehikes.co.nz/mt_home.asp
Dinner was fantastic. I was signed up to sleep in the dorms (4 to 6 hikers), but ended up with a dorm all to myself.
The first day was a beautiful day (they use the word "fine" in their weather forecasts). It was a
pretty flat terrain as it followed a river. We did 10 miles, so it was a good way to warm up. Went swimming where this waterfall comes down off the rocks. The thought is that the water, which is coming from melting snow, warms up on the rocks on the way down. I think
it warmed up to at least mid 40's! It was invigorating. Needless to say, there were only a select few that took advantage of this opportunity.This time I was assigned to a dorm room with three women. They decided that there was an extra room, so I elected to move.
Next day was the big day, with going over Mackinnon pass. Nine miles and 800 meters of elevation climb and then 1,000 meters of drop. Unfortunately, the weather was not "fine". Rain varied from steady to heavy, with a little chunky rain (snow) at the pass.
Winds were a nice steady 20 to 30 miles per hour. I did fairly well and made good time as there wasn't a lot to see with the rain. I was the 4th one to the next lodge. The trail cuts across a number of streams, waterfalls, etc. I 
was able to skip across most of them from rock to rock. The hikers at the end of the day were going through knee deep water to ford the streams.After dropping off the packs, did another three mile hike to see Sutherland Falls, the 5th tallest falls in the world and the tallest in NZ at 580 meters. Needless to say, with all the rain, it was really coming down. If any of my pictures come out, I'll post them.
About 9:30 that night, there was an earthquake. Not a real surprise for NZ. It wasn't too bad, but a number of people had never experienced one before.
Next day was a 14 mile hike to Milford Sound. It was supposed to be pretty flat, but don't believe everything they say. Some good up and down, and the legs were still feeling the night before. Took a ferry to Milford Sound to the next lodge. This was really our last day of hiking Milford Sound.
That night the winds were very strong and the rain kept coming down. In the morning some of the windows in the lodge were broken by the winds. Our schedule was to take a cruise around Milford Sound. There was a lot of rain, and this made for numerous waterfalls. Probably 10 at any one glance. Once again, I'll try and get some pictures posted.
Came back from the cruise and found out that the road out was closed to to trees down and a number of landslides. Estimate to get the road reopened is three days. The only way to get us out was helicopter, but it was still windy and raining. After a delay, they got a couple of helicopters (this was an added bonus to the trip!) and could take 6 people at a time. Two up front with the pilot and 4 in the back. It was an interesting perspective. We had headphones on so the pilot could tell us what was going on. We went down this one valley and then needed to climb over a peak, except the peak was covered in clouds. We tried going up a couple of times, but couldn't see. Finally, there was a little break in the clouds and we were able to pop over the mountain. It was a little tense. We could then see the road below and all the landslides. Lots of work for someone.
Tomorrow, I hope to start the next leg of the hike. Some people did start it today, but were unable to get there by road, so they helicoptered them in. I may get a second "free" helicopter ride!
Pictures:
1 - Orchid
2 - Spider web
3 - McKinnon pass in the low spot in the middle of the picture
4 - Pond at the bottom is where I went swimming (Sorry, no pictures of that!)
5 - Myself posing
6 - Short video of Sutherland Falls, the highest waterfall in NZ and 5th highest in world (1,904 feet)
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