The Hollyford is a tramping track in Fiordland National Park. From the road end to the ocean it is 57 kilometers (about 35 miles) long – you can do a loop but it is difficult because it gets very swampy. There are 6 huts on that section you can stay in: Hidden Falls Hut, Lake Alabaster Hut, McKerrow Island Hut, Demon Trail Hut, Hokuri Hut, and Martins Bay Hut. The section of trail from the road end to Lake Alabaster Hut is well-maintained and relatively easy to walk. After that, the trail gets much more difficult – a section of it is even known as the Demon Trail.
Day 0
At 5:30 in the morning, I packed up my stuff and moved out of the room I’d been living in since February. I had more bags than I moved in with, which I explained away with the fact that I had a fair bit of non-perishable food I was keeping till my next stable place. In the days prior, I had prepared 8 days of food for myself, which were all contained in my (very heavy) tramping backpack.
As soon as Nick and Travis arrived, we piled into Travis’ car and headed out. We drove 9 hours to Homer Hut, with quick stops in Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, and Te Anau. We only drove each other slightly crazy with discussions about US politics.
A quick profile on the other members of this expedition:
Blake: Big history and politics guy, studies those things at university. Loves his bourbon and coke (and carried them with him on the tramp – was unsuccessful in convincing the rest of us to join him). I concluded that he’s a sensationalist, both politically and in everyday life; he loves a good story and dramatic examples. Quote of the trip: “Ow my back!”
Travis: Quiet guy when you first meet him, pretty funny once you’ve been around him a while. Loves skiing, cars and anything else with a motor. Studies engineering. Quote of the trip: “Ah, stitch up”.
Nick: Studies law and history at university. Easy to talk to and connect with. Also loves skiing, tramping, and things that go vroom. Will talk history for hours and tell you about obscure conflicts in surprising detail. Quote of the trip: “She’ll be right!”
Day 1
Road end to Lake Alabaster Hut: 19.65 km
The morning found us waking up at Homer Hut, which is a basecamp just off the road to Milford Sound for people doing climbing and mountaineering. It had snowed on us overnight, and the views must have been gorgeous – alas, we left before the sun rose.
Around 9 we bravely set out with packs heavier than they would be for the rest of the tramp. My pack was around the same weight as everyone else’s (perhaps even a bit heavier – I had gone a little overboard on how many wraps and cups of oatmeal I thought I would eat). However, as the lightest person there, I definitely had the highest pack weight to body weight ratio. Weighing less does not mean I need to eat that much less, however, and I don’t need less gear either – if anything, I need more layers to keep me warm at night. Anyway, I think I was real brave about it, even if I was slow going up hills on the first day.
Although I struggled most at first, Blake was in bad shape by the end of the day. Along with a good dose of blisters, he had pinched a nerve in his back and was in significant amounts of pain. As soon as we reached Lake Alabaster Hut, he dragged a mattress in front of the fire and proceeded to put on a snore-chestra performance for us (which he later vehemently denied, but I have an audio recording of it).
Day 2
Lake Alabaster Hut to Demon Trail Hut: 13 km
On my way to the long drop this morning, I saw a Ruru (Morepork, New Zealand native owl). Travis was up and we observed the owl for a couple minutes, and it observed us. Today marked the beginning of the more difficult section of the track, and sure enough, a kilometer or so in we already had to clamber our way around a fallen tree on the trail. It was our first, but definitely not our last.
Blake was still in pain and very brave about it. Once we got to McKerrow Island Hut, however, he tapped out. We agreed that we’d meet him back there in 4 days, we made sure he had enough food, and said goodbye. He said the rats would keep him company in our absence, as well as the “hot Scandinavian women” who were sure to come by (a tramping club tall tale, made up by men who are convinced that if such a thing were to happen, it would look like the “Castle Anthrax” scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail – click to see a video of the scene).
So Travis, Nick, and I headed off on the Demon Trail, determined to go further before nightfall (well, Travis and Nick were – I half wanted to stay the night at McKerrow). Demon Trail Hut did not have a fireplace, so that night we were quite cold. Nick and I began our almost nightly tradition of trading shoulder massages, a luxury after a day of tramping.
Day 3
Demon Trail Hut to Hokuri Hut: 9.6 km
This day was relatively short, but quite technical. It also rained on us a bit. There were quite a few trees that had fallen over the track, and we did a couple unnecessarily long detours while trying to find the trail again. It’s not called the Demon Trail for nothing: sections of the track were effectively walking uphill through a stream flowing across slippery rocks. I came to appreciate that maybe tramping takes more skill than I give it credit for – I generally don’t think of it as something that takes a lot of practice, but not slipping on those rocks while also carrying a heavy pack on my back took quite a bit of knowledge about weight distribution in my body.
We arrived at Hokuri Hut in the early afternoon, and used the sunlight to dry out our sweaty clothes and roast ourselves a bit as well. At sunset we went down to the lakeshore and watched the sunset while trying to keep away the sand flies that wanted to eat us for dinner.
Day 4
Hokuri Hut to Martins Bay Hut: 13 km
Today’s tramp was relatively flat and easy; much of it was along the lakeshore. We got going as the sun rose at 8:30 and arrived at Martins Bay around 12:30, which gave us plenty of time to explore the surrounding area.
The boys convinced me to join them in a round of beach cricket, which I did, but not before taking a series of action shots of them playing. I don’t know how to play cricket, but I concluded that it’s kind of like baseball except you only have two bases.
Later, we explored the rocky seashore nearby. There were really interesting rock formations, and we got surprised by some fur seals!
Cool rocks 
Some very green rocks among the brown ones! 
New Zealand Fur Seal 
I hope you don’t have trypophobia… 
Nick using his flip flops (or jandals, as they’re called here) to protect his hands against the rough rocks 
More fur seals! 
A mushroom growing in the moss on the rock 
Travis, silhouetted in the rocks 
Waves in the rocks 
Shadow group photo 
Day 5
Martins Bay Hut to Hokuri Hut: 13 km
The next morning, we slept in, and then went swimming in the lagoon before breakfast. It smelled like sulfur, and we really didn’t feel that much cleaner. We left around 11 and ate lunch on the lakeshore, which seemed like a great idea until we were swarmed by sandflies. That evening, we went skinny dipping in the lake before sunset. After dark, we dragged out a mattress and stargazed for a while. The stars here are stunning here because there is effectively no light pollution – the closest town is far away, and there are absolutely no lights here.
Day 6
Hokuri Hut to McKerrow Island Hut: 16 km
Hiking back along the Demon Trail was less difficult now that we knew what to expect and our packs were significantly lighter after eating 5 days worth of food. I entertained myself during the 5 hour hike by making a concerted effort to watch the Les Miserables movie in my head and sing all the songs in order. I know the soundtrack well, but getting the songs in the correct order turned out to be pretty challenging.
Nick and I started talking about musicals, and it turned out we were both Hamilton enthusiasts. I had a selection of Hamilton songs downloaded on my phone and on the last night we sang along to them in the hut together (which was great for us, but less great for Travis and Blake, who nevertheless bravely tolerated us).
After a quick lunch at Demon Trail Hut, we hiked all the way back to McKerrow Island. Blake saw us coming from afar, and we exchanged a series of whoops for about 15 minutes before we saw him. As expected, Blake had a series of unverifiable tales ready for us. “You just missed the hot Scandinavian women, they left a few hours ago!” He also claimed to have killed 3 rats with the hut’s wood chopping ax and to have seen a kiwi during a midnight bathroom run (but had no picture proof of either; also, that valley is not within the range of any kiwi species so it would be pretty big news if they were there).
Four days alone in the bush had definitely had an effect on Blake, but all in all, he was in pretty good shape. The hut, however, looked like a bachelor pad, with firewood strewn across the porch, a mattress dragged to the fire and blocking the door, clothes drying on every imaginable surface, and the rest of his belongings generally exploded across the interior of the hut. All of this was perfectly understandable, given that he had been alone for 4 days, but the cries of protest when we slid his stuff to the side or asked him to move his mattress so we could walk through without falling over him were vociferous.
Day 7
McKerrow Island Hut to Hidden Falls Hut: 20.2 km
Packing up the next morning was quite a feat for Blake, and Nick and I made bets on what time he would be ready. We each bet the last of our chocolate cookies, with me betting that we would leave before 8:45 and Nick placing his bets on after. There was plenty of bribery and cheating involved without Blake’s knowledge: I offered Blake a my cookie if he was ready by 8:30, and Nick stated that we really were in no rush. We left by 8:40 and I ate Nick’s last cookie that evening.
This section of the trail felt much easier than it had on the way in: a week of conditioning combined with much lighter packs meant we went quite a bit faster. Nick and I sang some musical numbers while walking, while Blake and Travis found themselves far ahead on the trail.
Day 8
Hidden Falls Hut to Road End: 8.6 km
The last hike was short, so we took our time packing up and chopped some wood for the next people to stay in the hut. We arrived at the car around 1, changed into clean clothes, and drove to Te Anau. None of us really wanted to eat canned fish and cheese for lunch when there was a supermarket waiting for us.
At the supermarket, we each got what we had been craving most. All I really wanted was yogurt and some chips, so that’s what I got. I couldn’t be bothered to dig out a spoon, so I ate 500ml of yogurt using doritos as a spoon in the parking lot of the supermarket. Afterwards we drove to the hostel we had booked and showered off 8 days worth of sweat before going back into town for a “pub feed”. That night, we soaked in the hostel’s newly added hot tub and looked at the stars one last time. All that was left of the trip was a 9 hour drive back to Christchurch (featuring a full sing-through of Hamilton by Nick and I) and a couple loads of laundry once back at home.
Awesome trip! Excursions like this are some of the best experiences life has on offer. I enjoyed reading your last few posts as well, Ronja. (Sorry about your grandfather.)