Milford Sound Travel Forum

hello everyone,

we are 2 Belgian tourist who want to do the Milford track somewhere between march 15e and april 10th 2007. From everyone we hear it is neccesary to make reservation as early as possible. We haven't planned anything yet (expect arriving at march 13 and leaving at april 13 in Christchurch) and want to know if we still have time to plan this or if we should make reservation NOW.
If you have a link where to make online reservation, we would be very happy!

By the way, we don't know that much about New Zealand, only that it is heaven on earth, so if you know other stuff we definatly should check out, we would also be very happy (as you can see, we are often very happy)

thank you!

Hi there,

I went to NZ in 2004 for 4 months - did lots of hikes and visited all 3 islands.
Yes, you do need to make reservations for the Milford track pretty early! Since you're going in March, you probably don't need to do it just yet as it's before the tourist rush begins. Aim to do it Jan/Feb 2007 to make sure.
Try the DOC website, they regulate the tracks: www.doc.govt.nz - it isn't working at the moment, but try again in a while! You can reserve your places on the track there and there's a wealt of info about the country - well worth a look!!

If you're just planning to see the South Island, make a trip to Stewart Island (from Invercargill's Bluff Point). It is a choppy ride over there, but you get to see unspoilt beaches, freshwater streams, temperate rainforest and to sample the paua fish on the Raikura track.

Hope this helps.
If you want any other info, just ask! If I've been there, I will try to help!
Enjoy your travels!!

Heather.

Hi we did Milford Track earlier this year and it was absolutely fantastic. There are a couple of ways that you can do it. The chardonay way is pretty expensive where you book through a tramping company, stay in their chalets and just carry your day pack. The freedom way is where you have to organise everything yourself including travel, transfers, bookings through DOC, food etc.

The third and we found to be the best alternative was to join the Otago Youth Adventure Trust/Milton Rotary Tramping Club. They organise the bookings with DOC for you, buy the food, organise transfers to the start of the track. They divide the food between each person and then do most of the cooking at the end of each day. You still walk on your own but you also have the support of a group. It was fantastic.

You can contact the group by email to Peter Vollweiler at peter.vollweiler@xtra.co.nz or at www.otagorotarytrusttramps.org.nz

We recently received an email from the group and I know that they have a Milford trip organised for March 23rd to 26th.

We also had an overnight crise on Milford Sound after the tramp which was all part of the package and that was great. The total cost was less than $600NZ.

Hope that this helps.

> By the way, we don't know that much about New Zealand, only that it is heaven on earth, so if you know other stuff we definatly should check out, we would also be very happy (as you can see, we are often very happy)<

You could start reading VT pages and will find a lot of information about the country and 'millions' of ideas.

You are right: it is 'heaven on earth'.

happy travels
Jaap

Thanks for the reply's all; and thank you Couplesynergy for the tip on www.otagorotarytrusttramps.org.nz, we like this formula and are considering doing the track this way.

By the way, since there are already 3 reply's after one day i'm gonna take advantage of the attention i have now ;-), what do you suggest for getting around in New Zealand? is it public transport, hiring a car, hitchhike,...?
We are not really wealthy and don't mind low comfort, but do mind spending a lot of money so cheap tips or cheap tricks are to be app/re-plied to us. thanks!

wooow!!

cheapest is 450$?!, we can't really afford that...
Is there maybe another way? 200-300 NZ $ / per person is our financial pain limit.

thanks again...

The only 'cons' on my New Zealand page is: "guided tours and activities rather expensive" !!

For travelling around the country on the cheapest way you could use busses. take a look at:
www.backpackersbus.co.nz
www.travelpass.co.nz
www.flexipass.co.nz
www.magicbus.co.nz
www.kiwiexperience.com
for public transport:
www.intercitycoach.co.nz
www.newmanscoach.co.nz

A rental car would from 40 NZD a day; although in jmy opinion you will be more flexible.

Hi there, to advise you to wait until Jan/Feb to book for March/April is grossly misleading and way too late. Bookings for Milford Track are often filled 9 months ahead of time. Otago Trust/Milton Rotary, of whom I am a member and trek every year with, are also booked well in advance, Milford was full a while ago. You can of course go on waiting lists, but that is not satisfactory for many people.
Voltian it sounds really like you can't afford the Milford, but there are other tracks you can do, without a high fee.
Search into this following website and you can learn about some fine mountain walks. It's imperative however, that you have good survival and mountain trekking equipment as you are entering alpine territory and although it is summer, the temperatures and conditions can deteriorate in hours.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/index.asp

hi kiwi, thanks for the reply. We have learned that doing the milford track would be a bit more expensive then we first guessed, but since it is seen by many as the greatest walk on earth, we don't really want to miss it...
We can't seem to find a website with transparent prices, everyone is offering a 'full package', but we just want the cheapest package, only a hutpass or i don't know what is needed, i can't find any information on that?
Kiwi, given your name i think you're a New Zealander (hihi), is there a governemnt website somewhere where there is info about tracking, i think if we bypass al the touristagency's, we might get a better price, although we have to do everything ourselfs then...

thanks

Hi there, yes there is, but I expect it will be booked out. You see there are only allowed to be x number of people on the track at one time. You must stay in the Dept of Conservation huts, you can't camp. And you must move on each day as the next bookings will arrive each afternoon.
I am almost certain the bookings will be full, this late in the year.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/Great-Walks/Milford-Track/index.asp

You can check availability for the "freedom walking" here:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/serviceavailability/?servicegroup=mil

Looks like you may be fortunate and there are bookings available in March. You would be advised to book as soon as you have made a decision on dates.

thank vtveen for the tips on bustransport. It seem that the flexpass seems the best for us (paying per hour of travel), i think it's the cheapest, we really want to do be free to do what we want whenever we want.
However, if hiring a car is 'only' 40 NZD per day, it might be cheaper, how much are gasoline/diesel prices in NZL? ;-) and i guess the busses don't go to the most beautifull remote places...
thanks for the info!

Fuel prices are changing regularly, right at the moment they are dropping. 91octane is $1.60/litre and diesel was around $1.20 from memory. give or take.
Although there are some cheaper companies around, I prefer to recommend one we use, that has very good maintenained vehicles that are reliable and their backup is also excellent. Remember some distances between towns are long and remote at times in the South Island especially.
Here is a special by the company I recommend, McDonalds Rentals:
http://www.mcdonaldsrentacar.co.nz/rental-car-specials.php

Also if you view this url and see the route map you will notice that the Intercity Buses go to most of the places you will want to visit:
http://www.intercitycoach.co.nz/map.asp
Their coverage of New Zealand is very good.

thanks kiwi; oil prices are at least double in our country, so maybe it's cheaper for us to use a car then.
About Milford, i just send an email to DOC for booking & info on price, because i can't seem to find anything about that. Anyway, thanks for warning us we need to book now, as we where kind of pushing it on the long term :-)

Thanks for all your help, this forums gives a lot more info then the travel guides we bought!, if you give me your adresses we'll come around next year with some Belgian chocolodes as a thanks! ;-)

haha, I will be in Fiordland again myself in March :-))

Hello again, some further questions about the milford track:
is it possible to go to 'Te Anau downs' by car, park it there, so we can take the boat to the start point Glade Warf (57 $), do the track (120$), take a bus back to Te anau downs (40$) so we can do the walk for 217$ pp, which is juuuust do-able for us... Question is actulally, can we park the car at Te Anau Downs? And second, are we missing some costs?

thanks

Sorry can not help you with track info.

We also used McDonalds Rentals during our last stay. No problems, great service.

If you read the website, it says you can get to Te Anau Downs by private car:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/Great-Walks/Milford-Track/index.asp

See under the heading "Getting There".
Te Anau Downs is on the main road between Milford and Te Anau, so I'm sure you can get a ride back to your car. Be sure to leave nothing of value in your vehicle while it's parked there, as tourist carparks are often targetted by thieves.

ok thanks, think i should read the text on the website better :-)