The Monte Rosa Massiff
The Matterhorn
Mont Blanc
Just two short walks in New Zealand, the Milford and Routeburn Tracks.
Quite often on our walks in Europe, we are asked about the Milford Track. My answer is usually, no we haven't done it, and it can't possibly be as nice as the Swiss, French or Italian Alps. And besides theres thousands of people crawling all over it and millions of sandflies and 8metres of rain per year - none of which was appealing. But there was a niggling thought that one day it would be good to do, just to make our own comparisons.
So when Bonnie suggested she could get cheaper fares to New Zealand, as she now works for Virgin International, I started looking seriously at going to do both the Milford and Routeburn Track, a total of 5 nights and 6 days. There were two options, the hot water guided route costing almost $700 each per day with Ultimate Hikes, and the cold water DIY route with the Department of Conservation (DOC) costing $54 each per day plus food and a few buses. Now I love my business class trips to Europe, but there was no way I was going to pay $700 per day even if the route description by Ultimate Hikes was
After a hot shower and three-course meal it's time to get some rest in the snug beds
So after looking into the cold water route described as
After a cold water wash from the communal basin and a heated freeze dried meal on the gas ring, it's time to get some rest in your own sleeping bag minus pillow on a plastic mattress with 39 other hikers.
we decided that we'd only need to carry a sleeping bag, and a few days food, but no tents, as there were huts with bunk beds. No beer, no wine, no hot water and no three course meal waiting for us like we are accustomed to in the refuges of Europe. But I saw it as a challenge - yes we could do it. The only problem was that both Ultimate Hikes and DOC were fully booked for the Milford Track for the 2015 season, which lasted until April 2015, but there were a few remaining vacancies for the Routeburn, which were not much use to us without combining it with the Milford Track.
Mont Blanc
After checking with DOC in New zealand to confirm the fully booked status of the Milford Track, yes they were really were fully booked but vacancies occurred from time to time so keep checking. Everyday I checked the DOC website and twice a vacancy for 1 person popped up until one day in mid February, 10 vacancies appeared - clearly a group had cancelled. I immediately pounced and booked the two of us on the Milford track for March 27, 28 and 29, then hastily booked the Routeburn for the 23rd and 24th to precede the Milford, and also the 10 buses and boats necessary to transport us from Queenstown and to and from and in between the Milford and Routeburn.