FIORDLAND

Māori legend reasons that Sandflies were created to keep humans from dwelling too long in beautiful places and for that, I guess I can forgive them. I first heard about New Zealand’s great walks through my Grandma. In her younger days she had planned a hiking trip to Aotearoa and the Milford and Routeburn were at the top of her list. Despite the trip not eventuating, when I told her of my plans to venture across the Tasman, she showered me with hiking brochures from the 80’s that she had kept. The faded photos of Fiordland looked impressive but it was only when the farmland faded into magnificent fiords on my drive into Milford Sound did I truely appreciate why it was so high up on her list.

The popularity of these tracks meant that the booked out months and months in advance meaning my only option was to trail run them in a day. I started with the Kepler and continued through to the Milford and Routeburn. All three equally epic, especially after a period of rain allowing the waterfalls to truely show their colours. As the periodically clouds parted I was treated to a Fiordland “striptease” where rays of light illuminated the mountain peaks.

Fiordland reminded me so much of Tasmania’s South West, may they both stay forever wild.