New Zealand 2007 

 

                                    Day Twelve Milford Track - Mintaro Hut March 25

                                               

                                            Ascending is never the joyous part of hiking and today started the first of two days of continuous

                                            climbing.  After following the river for 4 hours, the trail started upwards to the Mintaro Hut located

                                            at 1,800 ft elevation.  Thankfully, some cloud cover kept the temperatures mild and enjoyable.

 

                                            Some of the wildlife along the way included the paradise ducks, piwakawaka (fantail) birds, and

                                            very "cheeky" robins.  Except for deer, larger animals do not exist in the national parks.  This also

                                            accounts for the extremely clean water - very rare to be able to drink directly from the river and

                                            waterfalls.

 

                                            We encountered our first views of the upcoming McKinnon Pass over the mountains.  Thus, an

                                            early dinner and sleep was a good choice.

 

                                            Mintaro Hut demonstrated the New Zealand humor about weather - It had a weather stone hanging

                                            from a string on the front porch.  The accompanying instructions posted on the inside hut wall

                                            explained how to read a "weather stone".  If the stone is dry, it is fine weather and may change

                                            to rain.  If the stone is wet, it raining and the weather may change to sunny.  If the stone is

                                            moving back and forth, it is windy.  And lastly, if the stone is white, it is snowing.

 

 

                                                                                            Last Updated 2007 March email@ellerberoad.com