Dumpling – Sandfly Point (22.1 km)
Steamers Beach (see March 6, 2013)
Wednesday, March 13: Some low cloud at first, clearing with dramatic cloud patches left behind. In Te Anau hot
GPS Tour
Youtube video
Mackay Falls, exposure bracket
A few were up from 6:30 onwards, and Andrea & Kobi seemed to have difficulty getting up at their 6:45 target; but in any case I had enjoyed a restful night’s sleep and was pretty much ready to go. Only Franklin had started snoring once, but I woke him and got him to turn on his side; and the Belgian guy did snore very softly and it was over when he turned. The Israeli guys were impeccable. All in all we were about 95% snore-free which, for an impromptu revolt, was not bad.
Good thing, too, to separate the kitchen from the dorm, although if I had my way, the kitchen would be closer to the track than the dorms, so that people could leave directly from there without having to traipse through the atrium again. Oh, and our (forced) choice of dorm on the way to the loo was not optimal either, although that, too, could be solved by some forethought.
My breakfast stuff was ready and waiting in the kitchen, and I went up in my spiderman suit to partake. Most others were likewise well organised and pretty soon the first few were on their way. I still had to send an OK on the spot, and that took a little longer; then a sat fix for the GPS, in between a chat with the warden. Then I, too, was onto the last stretch just after 8:00 (as I recall). A couple of pictures along the way, as the mountains were just beginning to show in the first rays of the morning sun. Took a panorama of the one major burn, a couple of shots of a couple of fantails, overtook a couple of people and was eventually overtaken by Mark and Ziv & Asaf.
Tried a photo of the bridge over the Arthur just after the Boathouse but the sun was in possibly the worst position; perhaps next time try taking the path down from the boathouse to the right bank.
Soon Mackay Falls & Bell Rock were there – the falls have shrunk again in memory; attempts to do brackets may have been thwarted by movement of the platform as people climb up and down the steps – perhaps try some Fourier transformations with sinc filters for this! Here the pol filter came into its own in reducing reflections off the water surfaces.
Arthur Valley, bracketed panorama (detail)
Further along some shots through the trees of the river; then at the stone cutting a redo of the panorama but from a higher & clearer vantage point.
Lunch was at Giant’s Gate falls shelter & Ken showed me his PowerMonkey solar charger & storage battery system. Will have to look into it.
Even though the times were being adhered to I was walking at a fast pace with a light pack & the photography was taking up a lot of the time. On the final stretch I wanted a shot of Lake Ada & its outflow and got pans of both; then also a portrait of one of the iconic Milford sound photos shortly before the Arthur flows into the Sound. Also took a couple of clear shots of the final sign.
Outflow, Lake Ada, Arthur River, bracketed panorama (detail)
Still, there was no waiting for the boat at the wharf at Sandfly Point; it was waiting for us. Sent a spot OK while photographing the fiord with pol filter attached.
| GPS Tour: Milford Track, Day 4, Dumpling – Sandfly Point |
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Can’t really imagine how we got there so early the last time, unless we were really early leaving; or the boat left later; or the photography has taken over the trip. Won’t dare to look at how many are on the card, but can imagine that there are more than 2009. Many more.
Once in Milford the bus was there to be boarded and listening to the ipod and snoozing just a little, we made it to Te Anau in just two hours. Stayed on the bus for the short drive from DoC to the motorcamp and booked into a single room for the last night in Fiordland.
Showered, repacked some stuff, went shopping and then out to dinner @ Olive Tree Café – lamb burger with chips & beer for $19.5 – reasonable price & quality, although a little on the jaded side. Looking for a drinking glass met Julian & Ken in the 4Square, then headed off back home.
Will see about internet in the library tomorrow morning & some petrol before heading for Dunedin.
And tonight the first decent sunset.
