I Hiked the World's Most Beautiful Trail 🇳🇿 Milford Track

The Milford track in New Zealand is arguably the most beautiful walk in the entire country. New Zealand, she's a beaut. And for the next five days I'll be hiking it along with 50 other hikers on a fully guided experience. Unbelievable. This means everything will be taken care of from delicious meals to proper gear, comfortable accommodations and even a private luxury cruise through Milford Sound itself. But with prices reaching upwards of $6,000 is it actually worth it? Well let's hit the trail and find out. So I should start by explaining that the company who organises these group hikes is called Ultimate Hikes. And the previous day we had all been given a full briefing on the trail, the weather forecast and the opportunity to borrow any gear we needed. They provide rain jackets, bag liners and other bits and bobs and I borrowed one of their 40 litre backpacks because I didn't bring mine to New Zealand. Then on the morning of day one we had all been picked up in Queenstown and jumped on the bus that would take us east towards the national parks. The first day is basically getting us all as far away from civilisation as possible and so after four hours on a bus and one hour on a boat we were all well and truly in the thick of it and at the start of the trail. Welcome to the beginning of the Milford track. We have officially begun a five day hike in paradise. The weather forecast is mixed but today it's beautiful. This is gorgeous. The whole forest is covered in this beautiful moss. Every tree, every branch, it's almost like a hairy forest. We only had one kilometre of walking to get to our accommodation for the first night so we were given some time to find our room and settle in a little bit. Then we had a group photo and then the guides put on an optional nature walk. About 45 minutes to an hour just walking into the forest near our accommodation to check out some of the local flora and fauna and to just learn a few things about this incredibly unique ecosystem completely cut off seemingly to the rest of the world. Well if you ever want to feel like an explorer, come to New Zealand for the first time. I mean have we landed on a different planet or what? And that guided talk was so interesting. We learned so much about how these animals that have called New Zealand home for millions of years evolved, especially the birds, to have no fear of predators. So they're all super friendly and what's good as well is they just let you do your own thing. Like you can hang out and listen to the group and listen to the information or you can just fall back or go ahead and just follow these little orange signs and it just takes you on a loop through this majestic incredible mossy forest. And the guides are saying because it's dry it's quite strange. Normally this place is completely soaked and that's when it's really alive. But we've seen quite a lot of bird life so that's been really nice. It's an optional extra. It's been about 90 minutes and I've enjoyed every minute of it. And now we're going to go back to the lodge and have dinner. They're going to cook us a fancy dinner. The price includes all your meals including a three-course slap-up dinner every night. So that was the end of day one. Basically just a travel day to get to the trail itself. A short hike, a short nature walk and a dinner. But I along with the whole group were really eager to just get going, get those kilometres under our belt and to start making our way through the valley. And the mountains of this beautiful part of New Zealand. Let's pick things up in the morning on day two and get going. Welcome to day two and the beginning of the trail. It looks like it's going to rain. In the valley there's a little bit of distant thunderstorm and quite a bit of rain. So we're all packing up after our delicious breakfast. Oh my god, cooked breakfast, beans, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast. I had some Weetabix with peaches, a big cup of coffee and a really nice hot shower. They've got really good showers here with shampoo and shower gel. And slept really well last night after a couple of beers with a few other hikers. Talking all sorts of great stuff and just sharing stories. And yeah, we're gonna leave at 8.30. It's also worth mentioning that each morning there is a sandwich station. A place where we can make ourselves a sandwich and our lunch. Whether it's a wrap, a couple of sarnies, grab some fruit, grab some snacks. All fresh, all yummy and all included in the price. Right, let's get a move on. Feels good to be finally, finally on the hike. Yeah, the wait was over and we were now on our way. The rain at this stage was only light and with the forest as cover it wasn't really that bad at all. As you can see the trail, very well maintained. This is going to be quite an easy first day. Just flat and following the river through the valleys. Let's go. Now the Fiordland National Park is renowned for its high rainfall. In fact, it rains 182 days every year. So you will need rain jackets and this will be a part of this hike. You are going to get wet. But with the rain comes the waterfalls and this region really comes alive in the rain. So don't be put off. A man on a mission with an umbrella. I think one of my main concerns about doing a guided tour with this many people was always being in a line or being around conversation. Which is not really what I look for in a hike. I quite like solitude or moments and being alone. And it's kind of the reason I like hiking. Is to just switch off and daydream and stare at nature and just enjoy being at one with nature. But at the beginning this morning I thought oh god there's a lot of clumping up. A lot of single file and a lot of chit chat. But within an hour or two now we've really spread apart. And what's nice is if you do like to chat and make friends and exchange stories. You can just hold yourself back, wait for the next group of people. And there's normally groups of twos, threes, fours. And they're having a nice chat and they're hiking together. And that's fun. But if you want to have a bit of your own space just tie your shoe, have a drink of water and you'll soon find that there's nobody here. My lunch was great and it's really coming down now. If you're wondering where are the toilets? Are there toilets? Here they are. And quite the view. Lovely day. After lunch the rain started to come down much harder. And for the next section we would be hiking through the valleys. So we were gonna be more exposed. However as I mentioned with the heavier rain came more waterfalls. I would much rather walk in this than walking in hot conditions without the majesty of the waterfalls all around us. Yeah a bit windy and a bit wet. Quite the understatement Paddy. It had been a wonderfully damp few hours and almost everyone and everything got soaked. But we were all still in complete awe of the beauty of these valleys. Okay it's finally stopped raining. Clouds have parted and the valley is slowly revealing itself. And it is quite something to behold. There are a thousand waterfalls to my left. There are a thousand waterfalls to my right. It's really quite something. All the rain has created the waterfalls but been hiding the views. But now we're getting the best of both worlds. Did we get soaked? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Yeah with the rains disappearing and the valleys finally coming into full view. The true wonder of this Milford track was starting to reveal itself. So let's find a nice spot and enjoy the views. Wowzers. Blue skies. I did not think I'd see blue skies today. So let's just stay put. As we get eaten by sand flies. Can you see them? Everywhere. Wow. Right let's get to base camp. Settle in. Get dry and eat like a king once more. Okay good thing about being the first person. Bottom bunk is mine. This is my kind of hiking. So after a wonderful hot shower and a change of clothes. It was time to put all of my wet gear into the drying rooms. These rooms blow hot dry air and everything that is soaking wet will be dry as a bone within an hour. Then it was time to put my boots in the boot drying room. You can guess what happens there. Let's grab a coffee and let's just chill and relax and wait for dinner. Just before dinner was actually another briefing. We had a big mountain pass tomorrow and they wanted to brief us about it properly. And then it was time for dinner. Warm delicious pumpkin soup. Three options for dinner. I went for the beef curry. Yes please. That's it let's go. And then after the creme brulee dessert. It was time for bed because we had an early start the next day. Nice and moist. Not raining. Fresh temperatures to start with. So yeah having a great day. Let's go let's walk. I was thinking for this morning's section I'm gonna have no music. Let's just have the full ASMR experience. Okay so far so good. I've got like a rocket up my arse today. I've gone right past everyone and I'm leading the pack as to say. As we head towards MacKinnon Pass. This is the tricky part of the hike today. This is the most tricky part of the entire Milford track. This big granite wall we're going to go zigzag up to the top. Curl around and come down and it's going to be quite difficult. Right there. Like they might have. It looks like a pier. Like a very not a very impressive one. Some fresh antlers. I got caught up by the guide. And he was huffing and puffing. And he politely told me that I can't just go up the pass on my own. So I have to sort of hang around at a hut and have a drink. Is that the berries we were eating earlier? Hello little wood pigeon. That is spectacular. We've come up to the summit and there's a beautiful monument. And we are surrounded by quite high winds. But this is a little bit of shelter. And the clouds are rolling over and coming and going. So I'm not quite sure how long this view is going to last. But come and enjoy it with me together. Look at this. There's a little rock here. And if you're scared of heights just close your eyes for five seconds. Today how are we going? You know like I think the first year as a rookie. Lots of training. But I think financially it's a bit tough. Sawatdee. New Zealand. She's a beaut. Unbelievable. What an incredible section of the hike. The highlight so far. By a mile. Hiking this ridge. Loving my life right now. And so will you if you come to New Zealand. And do the Milford Track or go anywhere. This country is incredible. Oh it's a little bit windy. Wow it's so fancy in here isn't it? Right that was lunch over with. And that was the MacKinnon Pass. The hardest part of the hike was now over. All we had to do now was to get down. I don't like downhills so it was time for some tunes. It was time for some more incredible views. And it was time to really just buzz off the feeling of being this deep into the New Zealand wilderness. This is that part of the hike where music's in. And I'm just blissfully unaware of the sounds around me. And I turned and I saw this. Okay welcome to the beautiful Quentin Lodge. This is where we're going to be sleeping tonight. I've just checked in and dumped my bag. Well the stuff inside my bag. And claimed my bottom bunk. I think I'm the first person off the mountain which is good. There is an optional hike to a waterfall which I'm just going to do now. I'm not going to bother getting rested and sit down and have a cup of tea because I'll just get stiff. So we're just going to keep moving. It's a sweaty one. But it's a beautiful one. It's worth it. Okay day three was over. The highest pass, the highest waterfall and the best dinner of the hike was now all complete. Time for a quick briefing, a few well-deserved beers and bed. All right everyone we're gonna move on. Morning briefing. Everyone ready? Oh that was quick. We have a half marathon. We have 23 and something kilometers. Mostly flat all the way to the Milford Sound itself where we will get on a little boat and get taken to our next cabin. Where we'll stay one more night before doing a Milford Sound cruise as the finale of the entire experience. It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning, a beautiful day. We had a lot of ground to cover so let's go. Wait till you, I said go because I need to get your face in frame. Okay go. Go. What's up YouTube? Look what can I get you? What's up YouTube? What can I get you? Milo, tea. Endless easy around every turn. Okay welcome to the official end of the Milford track here at Sandfly Point. 33 and a half miles and what a beautiful track it was. There's the boat. We're gonna go check out Milford Sound tomorrow but look at that, that's something else. Yeah it's going. Say hi, yeah. This is my Paddy. Paddy, remember us. Don't forget us. You're the man Paddy. Love you bro. Say hi to YouTube. Cheers Paddy. Don't forget to turn it off. Oh you can see it in the front, that's so cool. Cheers everybody. We made it, Milford Sound. As you can see behind me, waterfalls and the Milford Sound landscape which is quite clear to see is famous for a reason. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in my entire life and we still have a morning cruise but I think as you've seen during this video the service, the accommodations and the food and the overall experience will really help towards me giving it a great review because it has been, it's been life-changing. This is just a dream come true to be able to do something like this and to share it with you so let me just really gather my thoughts and as I share the rest of this beautiful afternoon and the Milford Sound cruise I'll really sum it up in the best way possible in the way that this experience deserves anyway. but i just love to play in your fun and your games always hungry for more that's just how i was born take me somewhere i don't know and give me your freedom you love me two pieces yeah i need it won't you pandemonium life is so easy whoa you love me two pieces yeah i need it won't you pandemonium i give you my everything always hungry for more that's just how i was born take me somewhere i don't know give me your freedom you love me two pieces yeah i need it won't you pandemonium life is so easy whoa you love me two pieces yeah i need it won't you pandemonium my freedom two pieces yeah i need it won't you pandemonium