Day 1 on the Milford Track
We reached Clinton Hut shortly before noon. We had
time to unpack, get organized, and spend some time at a nearby pool
in the Clinton River before making dinner. Though we were warm and the
water looked inviting, we found it sharply cold and those who tested it
with their bare feet quickly put their socks and shoes back on. The setting
was absolutely splendid.
A word about sandflies (Simuliidai):
They are everywhere, not just at Sandfly Point, though naming the last stop
on the Track after the insects that would join us throughout the trek seems
a cruel joke. They are well known throughout the south island and everyone
who plans to hike the Milford Track hears about these pests. If you live
in northern states or Canada, you know them as black flies. They're pesky,
they're persistent, they breed in the millions, and they bite. Deet in various
proportions usually makes life easier for trekkers.
We found them almost anytime we
stopped on the Track. They were especially pesky at the Clinton Hut since
it had been last rebuilt, following a river flood, on its present location
over a wide bog. Safe from the river, but on top of prime breeding grounds!
