For others, there are the guided day hikes. Most of the day hikes begin at the Lake Te Anau end of the track, but our host Kerri at the Radford's Motel turned us on to a small company called "Trips and Tramps" that specializes in small groups. They start the day hike at the Milford Sound end, so as an added attraction, one gets to see the road to Milford and the Sound. Perfect! And we actually hit the only day that it didn't rain!
Here's the road to Milford:
A parking lot denizen, the Kea bird. At least this one was on the ground. On the way back, one was on the roof of the van:
Lots of things in the area are named Sandfly this or that. Sandfly cafe, Sandfly Souvenirs, Sandfly point. Sandflies are like those little no-see-ums that getcha. Oh, and they like to get in your eyes and ears. Fortunately, we had just enough breeze to keep most of them away, but we were still nursing some bites when we got back to Naperville. Here we are at Sandfly Point:
To get to Sandfly point, we had to cross a portion of the Sound by small boat and scramble ashore. From there, we were on the Track, which goes through a rain forest. Here's a sampling of what's to be seen. It is obvious why so many people take this hike:
It's spectacular. At Giant's Gate, there is a swinging suspension bridge. After the rough seas we'd encountered on the crossing, walking on this thing was nothin'...
Gordon, on more solid ground:
And finally, a stop at Milford Sound. Our tour mates took the a cruise on the Sound, but we opted to walk around a bit instead (like we hadn't walked enough for one day).
Long, fun day. We started at 6:00 a.m. and got back to Te Anau at 6:00 p.m. Not as bad as the people touring Milford Sound from Queenstown, though...they wouldn't see their hotels until after 8:00. So, this is a hint: If you're going to the Milford Sound, stay in Te Anau. At Radford's.
