This year we were able to take advantage of the way the holidays fell around Easter to take almost two weeks off of work. Although a little late in the year, we decided to use the extended break to tackle a couple of longer hikes in Fiordland. Located in the very southwestern corner of the South Island, Fiordland is known for its very wet climate; with an annual average of 200 rainy days and annual rainfall of around 8000 mm (315 inches)! As we made our final preparations to leave, we watched as a huge cyclone took aim at New Zealand. Not knowing what to expect, we decided to set out to Te Anau our base for the hikes and hope for the best.
As we drove over the Alps the wind and rain lashed our car, as Cyclone Cook passed over us. With limited visibility and water running down the sides of the road we started to wonder what we were getting ourselves into. But the forecast for Fiordland was surprisingly good and on Friday morning as we made our way from Te Anau towards the Hollyford Valley to start our hike, we could see the clouds starting to lift.
We arrived at the start of the Hollyford Track, ready for our four-day hike. The track follows the Hollyford River from high in the mountains out to the Tasman Sea. Immediately after leaving the car park we crossed the first of many bridges over the Hollyford River, giving us great views of the crystal clear water before the track plunged into the dense bush.
The first section of this trail is shared between the Department of Conservation and a private guided walks company who maintain the trail to a very high standard. Even with our heavy packs we were able to make good progress through the lush green forest.
Occasionally we would get a glimpse of the surrounding mountains and at each break in the trees we were pleased to see that the clouds were continuing to lift. Knowing that we had several more days of hiking ahead of us, we were relieved that we might at least have one dry day of hiking.
This section of the trail passed by numerous waterfalls, each of them a little more spectacular that the last. After passing the first unnamed waterfall (above), we knew it was time to start looking for the aptly named Hidden Falls.
As it turned out, we didn’t need to worry about missing the waterfall as the roar of the water soon started echoing around the forest. A little further down the trail we came to the Hidden Falls swing bridge from where we had a great view up Hidden Falls Creek.
Taking a short side trail we followed the creek just a short distance to get a glimpse of Hidden Falls. The huge volume of water coming down the falls meant that the entire area was covered in icy spray. Knowing that there hadn’t been any rain in the area for a couple of days, I can only imagine what the falls are like during heavy rain. From Hidden Falls we returned to the swing bridge and started making our way up towards Little Homer Saddle. At 168 metres (550 feet) it wasn’t a significant climb and we were soon on our way back down, passing by yet another waterfall.
It is hard to get a sense of scale from the pictures, but Little Homer Falls (above) is over 60 metres (almost 200 feet) tall. We spent some time enjoying the quiet of the forest and watching the water before continuing on the trail which slowly descended back to the Hollyford River.
Occasionally the trail would bring us closer to the river and as the forest thinned nearer the water we would catch glimpses of the Darran Mountains in the distance. After passing by one of the fully serviced lodges for the guided walkers, we saw the welcome sign indicating that the hut we were staying in was just twenty minutes further down the track.
After around twenty kilometres (12.5 miles), we caught our first glimpse of Lake Alabaster through the trees. The large hut was perched just above the lake giving us great views of the changing evening light over the lake. After getting settled in at the hut, we made the first of our homemade dehydrated meals and took advantage of the early sunset to have an early night.