Milford Track more accessible with new water taxi day trip
Hikers keen to get onto the Milford Track, but unable to get a booking, will have a different way to explore it with a new water taxi service.
The service, launched by Fiordland Outdoors Company, will enable hikers to walk to Giant Gate Falls in a day trip starting from Milford Sound.
The service will start at Deep Water Basin and take hikers to Sandfly Point, where they will be able to walk to Giant Gate Falls, before returning to Sandfly Point, where they will be taken back to Milford Sound.
Fiordland Outdoors Company owner Christine Wallace said she did not realise until recently that the Milford Track could be accessed from the Milford end without a guided tour.
She has been operating there for 22 years.
The water taxi has the capacity to take 10 people, charging $50 for an adult and $25 for children.
The company got a concession for the track before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The lack of international visitors sped up the work to get the taxi service ready, as the company was taking hits to its private guiding and guided fishing packages, Wallace said.
Wallace acknowledged it was a big leap of faith to start a new venture amid the impact that border closures were having on tourism, but the demand was so high she thought it would be successful.
The Milford Track officially opened yesterday, allowing trampers to complete the full 54 kilometres for the first time since the track was damaged in the February floods. Bookings sold out within the first hour it was open.
The company had hired two new staff members as part of the Milford Track opening and its new service.
They did have to wait for the completion of Giants Gate Bridge and other track work before they could open the new service, Wallace said.
The new water service will start on December 3.
Guided tours have operated from the Milford Sound end of the track.
Trips and Tramps had offered a day walk from Sandfly Point to Giant Gate Falls through a guided tour for several years.
Trips and Tramps owner operator Steve Norris said the water taxi would attract independent trampers, which was a separate market to his guided tours.
He said the new service shouldn’t affect his business, and he wished the new service all the best. Norris will start his guided walk service this week.