Milford Sound, NZ

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”

Henry David Thoreau

The Milford Sound is regarded by some as the 8th wonder of the world. It is a fiord on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, a natural wonder that offers grand views of towering peaks, cascading waterfalls, and lush rainforests.

Before going to New Zealand, this marvel was the only natural attraction I knew about, and I knew I had to pay a visit. I pre-booked a multi day hike before leaving America, called the Milford Track, which is the most popular great walk in New Zealand.

I was not off to a great start in the morning as we were leaving Queenstown on the bus. I had been bent over packing my bags and must have stood up too quickly because I felt a spasm in my lower back. Pain radiated throughout my body, making it difficult to sit, stand, or pretty much do anything. It upset me that I was about to go hiking for a week with a heavy backpack and I had such chronic pain that surfaced at the worst time!

Trying to put the feeling of pain aside in my mind, I chatted with the young woman sitting next to me on the bus, Alison. She recently graduated from a master’s program in the States, and was traveling for a little bit before starting work. During the course of the hike, I would get to see her passion for forestry, as this hike was home to many different types of trees and plant life. 

After a long drive, we arrived at a small harbor (Glade Wharf), where we took a ferry on Lake Te Anau for another hour to get to the beginning of the hike. Already, a beautiful terrain and rugged mountains materialized before my eyes.

Upon arrival, we walked a short distance, only about 20 minutes to get to the lodge where we would spend the night, called Glade House.

This was a guided walk, and our group had about 40 people in it. Some people slept in private rooms, while others like myself, rested in dorm-style rooms in the lodges. I was assigned rooms with Alison every night and twice, there was another woman in our room, a German traveler.

After dropping our bags off, we did a short hike near the lodge to learn about the kinds of plants and trees we would be encountering on the walk, as taught by our four guides. There are no roads to access the Milford Track, and food and supplies are delivered to the lodges by helicopter.

All the lodges and huts have toilets, and waste is removed by helicopter as well. There is no WIFI or cell reception anywhere along the route, and I was pretty excited to be off the grid for a week. In these lodges, we feasted on a delicious three course dinner every night.

On the first night, I got up to take a look at the stars; the sky was pitch black due to the lack of light pollution by being so far from town. You could see thousands of stars, including the Milky Way.

Day 1

The lodges are powered by a generator, which shuts off at 10PM each night and is powered on at 7 in the morning. We were encouraged to leave our light switches on so that the power turning on at 7 would be our “alarm.”

In the dining area, lunch stations were set up so you could prepare your own sandwiches, wraps, salads, and snacks to bring on the hike. We also had one last opportunity to send extra items back if we brought too much, so I decided to send some spare clothing and my tripod back. My pack was already quite heavy; not a good combination with my back pain!

And so off we went on the first day of walking. I spent most of the day hiking with a friendly man from South Korea. We had one small problem though; the language barrier.

It was too bad because he seemed so interesting and I wanted to hear his stories, but with the limited English of our interactions, I could only get to know him on a basic level. Nonetheless, we looked out for each other and I enjoyed his company.

The walking path was incredibly well taken care of and mostly flat that day. About an hour before the end of the walk, we reached a small lake with a waterfall, and were told that the water was slightly warmer in this lake than others along the path, so we could dip in for a swim if we wanted to.

The water was still frigid, but I decided to throw on my swimsuit and go for a swim. It’s not one of those lakes where you slowly wade in. No, that would make you doubt your decisions and turn around, due to the cold.

I had to take a deep breath and just jump in. The cold certainly took my breath away at first, but I adjusted slowly and it eventually felt nice.

I swam around for about 20 minutes in this cold water and at one point in time, felt an eel brushing up against my leg. That scared me off quickly, so I got out of the water and laid on the rocks drying off. 

That evening, my back pain was almost nonexistent. You know how athletes sit in ice baths to soothe their muscles? Well, I finally understand why they do that. The cold water really helped my back pain, and I felt like a brand new person!

Day 2

It rained all night, and in the morning, due to some flooding along the path, we were delayed leaving. Once on the path again, the rain reduced to a drizzle.

The Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in the world, averaging almost 200 days of rain annually, and we were pretty lucky with only dealing with rain for one morning.

The rain actually added to the experience because the mountains all around us were covered in little waterfalls. The impressive scenery left me in awe, and I kept stopping to admire the panoramas.

In the late morning, the clouds cleared up and the sun shined through. This day was the hardest of the hike because we had significant elevation gain. But we were rewarded with gorgeous views at the top of Mackinnon Pass, surrounded by lush greenery and little ponds.

We were even greeted by a kea bird at the top, the world’s only alpine parrot, and it scurried around trying to steal our food. This bird was handsome but ruthless in attacking unattended bags.

The steep trek down the mountain pained my knees and lower back. Luckily I had hiking poles to release some of the pressure off my joints, but I still ached.

Along the way down, we passed a roaring waterfall, Anderson Cascades, and followed a wooden stair path along it for about 20 minutes. Walking along a waterfall for so long made me happy, and overall, the scenery from day two was my favorite of the hike; just nonstop beauty at every turn.

Finally we reached the lodge and had an opportunity to do another hour and a half return trip to visit Sutherland Falls, New Zealand’s highest waterfall.

Alison and I embarked on this walk, and this waterfall was indeed impressive. The platform from where you could get a closer look at the waterfall left me drenched from the enormous splashes of Sutherland Falls hitting the ground.

Quintin Lodge where we slept was in a stunning location in the mountains. We had walked many miles that day, with lots of hills. I felt that I had earned the decadent meal that evening, and afterwards slept like a baby.

Day 3

The last day of the Milford Track was relatively flat again; a nice break from the previous difficult day. Lots of swing bridges, creeks and waterfalls, and some of the clearest water I’ve seen in my life filled our agenda.

The demographic of our hiking group was about 40% Americans, 40% South Koreans, and then 20% all other nationalities. I enjoyed getting to hear so many perspectives and life stories from my fellow hikers.

In addition to Alison, I had also bonded with a couple from Ohio, Colleen and Murray. They were good-hearted and social, and had befriended almost everyone by the end of the trip.

I walked with them for a portion of the walk on the last day and we had a great chat. There were little posts marking each mile of the walk, and they took pictures with new poses at each post, which I thought was very cute.

At our lunch spot that day, we reached a waterfall and lake, called Giant’s Gate. The water was crystal clear and clean, much like most of the trip, and you could drink it straight.

I was tempted to go swimming in this refreshing water, but this water was much colder than the lake from the first night. I could barely keep my hand in the water for longer than 10 seconds before losing feeling in it!

Murray and Colleen arrived to the lunch spot shortly before I left, and Murray actually jumped in the water, several times, to go for a swim! I was so amazed that he could withstand such freezing water!

I learned towards the end of the hike that Murray was the son of Gordie Howe, a highly distinguished hockey player. At the end of the trip, Murray and Colleen passed out little personalized notes to everyone they befriended on the hike, written on stickers that advertised his best-selling book about this father; Nine Lessons I Learned from my Father.

I did not know anything about Murray’s family until the trip was over and I had a chance to look him up. Murray and Colleen were incredibly kind and modest, never once mentioning that they were often in the spotlight back home, and I felt grateful that I had a chance to meet this inspiring family.

The end of the Milford Track was at a small hut called Sandfly Point. Sandflies are these pesky flies that love to bite humans. By the end of the hike, my legs were covered in itchy red bumps. I kept waking myself up in the middle of the night by sleep-scratching my legs too much.

Finishing the track was an awesome feeling; a solid three days of hiking, for 33.5 miles or 54 km. It felt great to be off the grid, surrounded by a picturesque landscape, like something from a postcard.

We were rewarded with a stay in a luxurious hotel the last night, Mitre Peak Lodge, right on the Milford Sound. It was a bittersweet evening with our group and we celebrated with drinks that night.

Milford Sound Cruise

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, but our end was a cruise on the majestic Milford Sound. I understand why this place is considered the 8th wonder of the world; it was gorgeous. We saw waterfalls, seals, jutted mountains, and kayakers enjoying the fiord.

After the cruise, most of the group went on their way, but I was dropped off in Te Anau, the nearby town to sleep in a hotel. I had booked two hikes for this week, so I would be leaving the next morning for another 3 days of hiking on a separate great walk. 

I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to go on this beautiful walk and then sail on the Sound. The guided walk was a bit expensive, but getting to sleep in warm beds after taking hot showers, and having breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided each day did make for a glamorous backpacking trip.

I’m grateful to have spent five days with a great group of people, and hope that I can meet some of them again in my life!

-Anastasia