Quintin Lodge

Milford track day 3:

Today is said to be the toughest day of the track, starting just shy of the 11 mile mark and ending just past the 20 mile mark making it only 9 mile (the shortest of the 3 "long" walking days) It takes us from about 400 meters above sea level to 1154 meter at it highest point of the Mickinnon pass and then back down to Clinton Lodge which is about 200 meters above sea level.

Whilst a really hard walk it was one of the most breathtaking things I have ever done. The views was just spectacular and no camera can reproduce the atmosphere we experienced while doing this. We literally went from shorts and t shirt weather at the bottom to a proper winter jacket at the top, where we were higher than some of the permanent ice fields.

The one thing that kept resonating in my mind was, how on earth can anyone experience this and not instantly believe in God? The beauty and majesticness of the mountains can only be created by God! No human would be able to create anything half as magical.

To make the experience even sweeter the guides had a cup of hot milo and pineapple lumps (awesome NZ sweet) waiting for us at the top of the mountain. After a short walk further up, we enjoyed our packed lunch while sipping on milo before heading down to our next lodge. On the way down we saw more amazing waterfalls everywhere, so lucky with the weather absolutely playing its part with the rain before we really started but nothing since.

We arrived at the lodge a bit battered and bruised after that walk but only had time for a quick coffee and to drop our packs as we had to soldier on for another 3 miles to and from the Sutherland falls, the highest waterfall in NZ at a 580 meter drop. We walked a couple of metres from where the fall hit the valley floor and got soaking wet from the mist ofthe falls, it was ice cold ❄️, but who could resist the chance to get so close to a waterfall like that!

This was some day of walking and would be hard to ever top not only the views but also the work we put into the walk. According to my gps watch ⌚️ I walked 17.82 km at a speed of 20 minutes per km and a total of 38,514 step to burn 5534 calories.

Must be one of the best days of my life!

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