Day 2 on the Milford Track
This was a wonderful day for hiking. We stopped often
to take pictures, though they often were of similar subject matter: waterfalls,
lakes, the Clinton River and the side streams, mountains, etc. Each turn
in the Track seemed to offer an image more beautiful than what we had seen
before.
We had bought a copy of a Guide to the Milford Track
(Kiwi Footpaths, 2001) that not only gave us a kilometer by kilometer guide
to using the Track, but sections on vegetation, wildlife, geology, history,
and planning for the trek: what to take, clothing, food, etc. The photographs
that appear on each page show different sites at their best. The narrow, vertical
format and 46 plastic covered pages make it easy to stuff in a pocket.
It was a good thing we had the guide so that we could
figure out what the large, brown bird was that we saw several times that
morning. It scurried in and out the of bushes, about the size of a large
hen. The guide verified it was a weka,
a common bird in the south island.
We got our first glimpses of tomorrow's destination:
Mackinnon Pass.
