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2016 RTW

The Milford Track - 5 Day Hike in the South Island of New Zealand

The Milford Track - 5 Day Hike in the South Island of New Zealand

We are almost there! Before we get to the Milford Track, a five day hike through the beautiful south island of New Zealand, I'll briefly cover a few highlights on the way there.

The 2016 Round The World Series

We flew via Virgin Australia through Auckland and had just a couple days to adjust.

However, one of my highlights of New Zealand is on the north island. Hobbiton.

The old Hobbiton set from the original Lord of the Rings movies was unfortunately torn down. However, it was rebuilt for the new Hobbit trilogy (almost enough to make that series forgivable) and they have kept it as a tourist attraction. After a long bus ride south from the capital, we were the first tour group to arrive, which meant that we could take as many photos as we wanted without hangers-on, well-wishers or distant relations getting in the way of the photos.

One thing about New Zealand that just stuns me is how green it is. There is farmland as far as the eye can see and let me just tell you that those are some really happy sheep out there.

After I bawled my eyes out at The Green Dragon, we made our way back to Auckland for a quick jaunt to Queenstown, the start of our hike, on the south island.

In Queenstown, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Queenstown, which was a fine hotel with a fantastical view.

Queenstown is an odd duck, in that it is very heavily a vacation town that clearly comes alive. It gave me Denver vibes, but is very certainly it's own thing. Also, here is an odd duck.

After another day to get settled in (I always recommend having an extra day between activities, travel mishaps do happen and you don't want to be out those plans just because of a missed connection), we got ready for the hike.

We selected the Milford Track with Ultimate Hikes NZ for our hike for a couple of reasons. One, they are very well rated. Two, they offer full private accommodations and at the end of every day you are greeted with a warm dinner. I'm sure that the food was just acceptable, but after a long day's hike, a steak and veggies is basically gourmet.

I really honestly have a hard time putting the hike into words. Hopefully the pictures help tell the story.

I also don't think pictures sell it either. But around ever corner was some breath-taking view. Whether snow-covered mountains (we were the first group on the hike after it opened after winter), moss-lined trails, brisk ice-cold rivers, there was some sight to see.

Our tour guides had to kindly suggest that we pick up the pace because we were obsessed with taking photos of every twist and turn in the trail. It was easy to picture a group of Hobbits hiding from Ringwraiths around the next corner and we ended up rating each section of the trail on a scale of 1-10 Hobbit-y vibes.

As the hike progressed, we eventually crossed a mountain pass (going from rainforest to hiking through snow to rainforest again in a day was an experience)

We continued moving towards our final destination, Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a fjord on the south island of New Zealand. As we got closer, the waterfalls got bigger and prettier. This photo is honestly one of my favorite I've ever taken (on my iPhone 7 Plus 🙃).

Once we reached it, we'd put up our hiking poles and take a boat tour around. Again, words kind of fail on this one.

Because of the melting snow and continuing rain, the waterfalls were in full force and the moody clouds and fog added to the vibe of a truly mystical and magical place.

I really can't say enough about New Zealand, North or South Islands and if you are even a moderately outdoorsy person (I am not), I highly recommend this. Again, please check out Ultimate Hikes NZ. I have done three treks with them and can't wait for the next.

That about sums it up for New Zealand on this trip sadly. However, we still had an exciting trip home, with a too-short Emirates First flight to Melbourne and two long segments in Etihad First for me!

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