Bad Storm in Fiordland Leaves Us Stranded in Milford

Early on Monday morning, Fiordland was hit by a very strong storm. The cold, southerly winds gusted up to 140km/h bringing down trees, and 200mm of torrential rain caused two significant landslides, all of which blocked Milford Road– the only road to and from Milford Sound– for several days.

I remember waking up at around 1:30am to the horrid tempest outside my weak, aluminum, ready-made room. The wind was so loud that I couldn't hear the raindrops pounding my flat roof. It was at a constant gale, but was gusting to unbelievable velocities creating a horrible freight train-like roar and causing the walls and roof of my room to creek. Nicolas, whose room is next to mine and at the end of our row of four rooms, was kept awake by branches swinging and drumming into his wall. At one point, a strong gust blew down a branch onto our roofs creating a loud thud.

I was lucky enough to be working the morning shift the morning after the storm and I reported to work to find 2x4s scattered on the walkway, chairs blown into the parking lot, damage to the siding of the lodge, and a crowd of people sleeping in the guest lounge. I still have no idea how they got in there considering no one called the emergency phone. They must have climbed over the wall and opened the door from the inside. The windows of three camper vans were blown in, filling the vehicles with leaves, water, and shattered glass. Luckily no one was hurt. I gave them supplies with which to fix their windows while my head was turning trying to figure out the status of the road and what to tell all the uneasy guests. Initially, we got a fax saying the road was blocked by fallen trees, but not closed. Once they discovered the landslides, they closed the road.

When all the guests realized they were stranded, and it was still rainy and windy that morning, they just sat inside the lodge ordering coffee and breakfast all morning. I think I made twice as many breakfasts than ever before. Later on, we got another fax saying the road would be closed for "several days" which brought down the moral of the guests and staff. Later that evening, after I was off work, the authorities opened the road for 40 minutes just to let the tourists out. Rowan was working and had to hand out dozens of refunds as people scrambled for their vehicles and left in a mass exodus. But not everyone left that night. There was still about 15 to 20 guests that stayed either because they didn't realize that it was their only chance to escape for the next couple days, or they were just out on a walk or in their rooms when the announcement was made. They stayed the night and were even more annoying the following morning as they made me feel like it was my fault that they didn't leave the night before. Luckily that night, the authorities opened the road one last time so that the remainder of the guests could leave.

The following morning, I started work at 10:00am instead of 6:30am since we were completely vacant and their were only 6 rooms to turn over– existing from the last few people who left the night before. I cleaned out the guest kitchen food storage shelves and refrigerators since I knew that none of the food there was owned by anyone. I also knew that it could be several days before our food shipment arrived so any unspoiled food left by guests could come in handy.

Today is Thursday, the road is still closed, Milford is still free of tourists (except for some who are flying in by plane and helicopter for some reason). There was also a camper van that came in via convoy, but we won't open up the lodge for only one person. I think he was hoping to get helicoptered somewhere so he could hike. 'Good luck, buddy.'

My coworkers, Jamie, Barbara, Elodie, and Sarah (who lives at the lodge, but works for Red Boats) were on the Routeburn track the night of the storm and were stranded on the track. They were nearly forced to walk all the way back to the beginning of the track, but were allowed to walk to Gun's Camp on Hollyford Valley Road from the Howden hut. They had to stay at Gun's Camp for three nights while they waited for the road to re-open, and arrived here around 11:30am today. A nice man driving a Works and Infrastructure truck made the trip into Milford just for them. It sounds like the road is going to re-open tomorrow morning around 9:00am, which means we will start seeing tourists between 10:30am and 11:00am. I am off of work for four days starting today. With all that's going on here and, additionally, I have a bad cold (which I got the morning of the storm), I can undoubtedly say I need some time off.

Just like Noah and the Ark, God gave us a beautiful rainbow the day after the storm to remind as that everything was going to be alright.

Kayaking Milford Sound with Rosco's

Ah, ladies and gentlemen. It is very pleasing for me to tell you that I have finally, FINALLY! fulfilled my goal of kayaking with Rosco's for free while I am working at Milford Lodge (and right before my employment appraisal might I add ;) ).

Kayaking is undoubtedly the best way to experience the fjord because you are literally sitting in it, bobbing up and down on the waves. You can reach over your craft and touch the water, or drag your fingers along the baby muscle-covered rocks. As a tourist, booking a guided trip is the only way you can kayak Milford Sound. Rosco's is the company I recommend because their guides actually live in Milford so they are more intimately aquainted to not only the fjord itself, but also the happenings in the "town" (the naked tunnel run being a prime example). The trip I went on is called the "Twilighter Wind and Waves." The reason for the "wind and waves" portion of the title is because later in the day, the fjord becomes more wavy due to what we call a "day breeze." This breeze is fueled by the sun, but can sometimes be much more than a breeze depending on the weather. As a result, there is much more rocking, splashing, and getting wet on this trip than the same trip in the morning– the "Stirling Sunriser".

I must apologize for the lack of pictures. It is difficult to take lots of picture while kayaking. For one thing, you have your hands full paddling, but you also keep your camera in a dry bag. This makes it less accessible for those spur-of-the-moment photo opportunities.


The trip begins by boating over halfway out of the fjord past Stirling Falls, and then kayaking back to Deepwater Basin (where the kayak headquarters is located). We were blessed with beautiful weather with the wind and setting sun to our backs as we paddled toward Milford. Stirling falls doesn't look that big in the picture above until...


you get a better sense of scale with the cruise boat sailing under it. Stirling Falls is actually almost three times the height of Niagara Falls! We paddled right under it and got soaking wet from the ice cold water... twice!


This is what I looked like afterward– soaking wet and really happy :) Our kayak guide, Abby, has done the trip so many times that she knew exactly how to line up the perfect photo. Hello Facebook profile picture! Abby was in the stern, I at the bow, of our two-person Necky sea kayak.

One advantage to kayaking in the afternoon wind is that you get to go sailing. We propped up a tarp with our paddles, clumped our four kayaks together, and let the wind push us down the fjord (not pictured).


Then, we stopped for a snack and hot drinks on this beach. This is where we were nearly consumed by sandflies from our ears down to our toes. You can see Harrison Cove in the background, which is where the overnight cruises anchor and where the underwater observatory is.


Here I am with Abby, our kayak guide for the day. The setting sun provides beautiful, warm lighting for picture taking.


Nearly at the end of our trip, here we are passing Bowen Falls, which was very small due to the dry weather we had had for the past day or two. We were greeted by Aiden, an adventuresome Canadian, out kayaking on his own. By the time we got back, it was almost dark, and we were wet and cold. When I got home, I had one of the best hot showers ever.

The End

Routeburn Track

In continuation with my tradition of posting blog entries about things that happened one week ago, this one is no exception:

There are a lot of walking trails in Fiordland National Park, but there are two that stand tall over the others – the Milford Track, and the Routeburn Track. The Milford Track is by far the most popular. So popular, in fact, that it must be highly regulated by the Department of Conservation (DOC). One can only travel the track in one direction and you must stay in the huts along the way in sequence. These huts require reservations through the DOC website, and it is very difficult to make reservations during peak season (28 Oct - 29 Apr). Consequently, the Routeburn Track is much more accessible to trekkers making relatively last-minute plans. On the Routeburn, you are free to travel either direction and you can choose between four huts and two campsites. However, it is still very difficult to make bookings during high season. Some would argue that the Routeburn Track is better than the Milford Track, but that is likely because of all the regulations imposed on the Milford Track. I hope to hike the Milford Track before I leave New Zealand, but it will have to be in the fall when the crowds die down.

When traveling from Queenstown to Milford Sound, the drive is roughly 300km (or about 5 hours) because you are routed southward around the mountains. The Routeburn Track spans 33km directly through the mountains from Milford Road to Glenorchy – a town about an hour's drive north of Queenstown. So, as a resident of Milford Sound, you can essentially hitchhike from Milford to Glenorchy and "walk home."

Rowan and I ended up staying one night on the track and walking a total of 11 hours, hitchhiking the rest of the way (with one exception). The exception was that we had to hire a shuttle from Queenstown to the beginning of the track. Since the beginning of the track is so remote, it is near impossible to persuade someone to take you there for free (via hitchhiking). No matter, we were still able to use our Lodge employee powers to get a discount on the shuttle.

Our shuttle left from Queenstown at 7:00 in the morning and the drive to Glenorchy was very beautiful in the low morning sun. We came across a herd of cattle being moved along the road from one pasture to the other. I thought it was a very signature New Zealand experience to wade through a sea of cows in our shuttle.


Here is one of the farmers with his cattle dog. They were definitely in high stress as they were working hard to keep track of all the cattle.


This picture was taken by a stream in the Routeburn Flats. We sat down there and ate a small snack. Rowan got out a brochure of the track and we immediately noticed that the first picture in it was taken only a few feet from where we were sitting. It was pretty wild!


As you gain elevation, you can look down on Routeburn flats where you were walking for about two hours before.


This is the Routeburn Falls lodge. I believe it is reserved for people who pay loads of money to do the track the luxurious way. They have a guide take them through the track and then they get to stay in prime places like this lodge (and the huts too probably). Directly to the right of this picture, there is a helicopter landing pad that probably explains how such an amazing hut can be built in such a remote place. It is yet another reason to get a helicopter pilot's license...


What a beautiful view over Routeburn Flats it was from the look-out next to the Routeburn Falls Lodge! The track follows the right side of the valley along the tree line.


And up and over the falls we went. I appologize for not having a picture of the falls. My camera was out for repairs and I was therefore limited to the pictures Rowan took. For some reason, he forgot to photograph them. The falls were not really worthy of the name "falls" though... at least not on the dry day like it was.


This is just a pretty picture I wanted to share with you. Rowan took it along the glacial valley between Routeburn Falls and Lake Harris. I love how the redness of the water mixes with the reflected blue sky to make a beautiful purple.


This is my impression of an explorer from the mid 1800s.


This picture is looking back at what we had hiked for the last 4 hours. It is a really great picture because you can see so much in it. In the distance, you can see Routeburn flats, then the valley that we walked through to get to Lake Harris (which you can see on the bottom of the picture). The valley was so obviously a glacial valley. It was a very flat, grassy tundra with large boulders scattered everywhere – dropped by the glacier when it melted.


This is the other side of Lake Harris. I should probably mention how much we lucked out with weather those two days!


I'm not going to tell you where we camped since it was probably illegal and I would also like to keep it a secret, but we were treated to an amazing display of clouds blowing over Harris Saddle as the sun finished setting and the Southern Cross constellation appeared over the mountains outside our open tent door. It was truly spectacular!


Here is another amazing reflection picture Rowan took of the morning sun.


That morning, we hiked over Harris Saddle and were greeted by this amazing view. That structure you see there is the Harris Saddle emergency shelter. We stopped there to use the toilet before taking a detour from the track and hiking up Conical Hill, which is a short peak (or tall hill – 1515m) overlooking Lake Harris.


Here I am posing on top of Conical Hill, with Lake Harris in the background, smiling like a cartoon character.


And this is another picture of me standing on top of Conical Hill with the view looking roughly north/north-east.


From Conical Hill and Harris Saddle, it was a long walk along Hollyford Valley to Lake Mackenzie. This picture is looking back at the track we just walked, Lake Mackenzie, and Hollyford Valley. The track lead us down several traverses to the lake and the hut that sits beside it. The remainder of the trek would take us into the distance following the left side of the valley shown above.


Here I am looking very sweaty, tired, and pale from the sun screen I was sweating off. The track is very well maintained and, in some places, the DOC actually either fabricates steps out of rocks or carves steps into the rocks. I had to include this picture since I look so hilarious and zombie-like.


This is the beach next to Lake Mackenzie at which we ate lunch and got a lot of sun while doing it. It was another three-hour hike from there to the end of the track.

It was a beautiful trip. I am thinking of doing it again. That's how much I enjoyed it!!!