Milford Sound Travel Forum

I'm starting on March the 10th, anyone else gonna be doing it then?

Anyway I don't have any equipment, (cooker/sleeping bag etc), nor enough money to buy them, what can I sort out? Also I was wondering how to get to the start of the trail from Queenstown, possible to hitch it?

I can't answer your questions but I do hope you realise you need good gear to go into the NZ mountains. Although March is quite warm, it can turn cold very quickly without notice. I will be nearby, on another track same time, and I'm taking thermal gear and good sleeping bag. Mostly I expect warm weather, but from experience I know that it's imperative to be prepared for the worst.
Good luck, and hope you enjoy Milford, it's a great track.
By the way, Dunedin is a good town to buy gear for this. And there is a sports shop in Te Anau that is very good and you can get last minute gear there. But it's preferable to buy in Dunedin, so you can be sure you get everything. Being ill-equipped on the Milford Track is very very dangerous.

Yeah but don't have enough money to buy pricey gear, and even if I did I dont have enough space to carry it around after I finish! Can stuff be rented? What kind of prices am I looking at if I wanted to buy some stuff?

yes you really need the good gear! we finished the track a week ago and we were lucky in that we had no rain. even so the temperature ranged from around 30degrees c in the valleys to 2-5 degrees c going over the pass! you need some warm gear! You don't need a cooker because they have them in the huts but you will need your own food, you can't buy anything on the track. most shops in queenstown and te anau sell freeze dried light food.

this book will help you lots in knowing what to expect
http://www.clearwatertarn.co.nz/New_Zealand_Books/nz_tramping_and_walking_books/milford_track_guide_book_11823_1.html#


there are places that hire gear in te anau but you need to contact them NOW and book it or there won't be any. you can try these places online
http://www.sportsworldteanau.co.nz/rentals.htm

http://www.bevs-hire.co.nz/bevs/data/price.htm This one does a full kit that you can rent, it might be your best bet.

the track is not easy so you really need to be prepared. it can be fatal if you are stuck out on the track and the weather goes bad. get thermals and make sure you take them, it will be cold going over the pass. And buy a good insect repellant you'll be grateful for it.

the best way to get from queenstown to the start of the track is by bus. try tracknet http://www.tracknet.net/ or http://www.toplinetours.co.nz/topline/default.asp. The bus from queenstown to te anau was $30 NZ and they also do te Anau to te anau downs which is the ferry to the start of the track, we book that and the ferry as part of the tramp when we booked the walk itself. It may be possible to hitch but most people heading that way are walkers who bus it.

hope that helps

I just returned from Fiordland. We got rained and snowed on and I hear about your dates would have been VERY wet. I hope you did manage to get good gear. I checked out a few places and the rental of this gear was very expensive. It wouldn't have been a cheaper option than buying, in my opinion. You can get some quite good but cheaper gear at places like the Warehouse, if you chose very carefully.
I met one student who left the labels on her wet weather gear, didn't use it and returned it to the store after the track!! How cheeky is that!!!!