no milford tunnel. decision on fiordland monorail next

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Awesome

[wayno]

theres still a proposal to put a road through the hollyford valley to the west coast. aparently land is designated legally for a road.
privately funded by an aussie mining company and chinese construction company...
one opinion is that they will just build the road from the west coast end till they get to the red hill where they will stop building the road and start digging a mine...
the full road would be very susceptible to slips from heavy rain,,,
the haast road is closed at nights at present from slip damage and ongoing repairs. a van was washed off the road in a slip last year..

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

theres still a proposal to put a road through the hollyford valley to the west coast. aparently land is designated legally for a road.
privately funded by an aussie mining company and chinese construction company...
one opinion is that they will just build the road from the west coast end till they get to the red hill where they will stop building the road and start digging a mine...
the full road would be very susceptible to slips from heavy rain,,,
the haast road is closed at nights at present from slip damage and ongoing repairs. a van was washed off the road in a slip last year..

Surely the "law of diminishing returns" should apply here? Playing devil's advocate, at least the tunnel/monorail proposals led to a major tourist destination. As beautiful as Martins Bay etc. is, I doubt it would attract the visitors that Milford Sound does, so all we'd end up with is devaluing the Hollyford Track experience by paralleling it with a road? That is, if it is for tourism purposes... a mining + construction company consortium makes you think otherwise, but I thought the whole area was protected?

There has now been a number of proposals in the region, each with a gradually lower environmental impact. Is there a concern that the powers that be have been gradually "softened" to development in the area and might eventually let one go ahead? Seems like a bit of a slippery slope to me.

[wayno]

the road will wipe out most of the hollyford track. it will link up with the milford road, offer an alternative route between the sound and west coast and te anau...

[icefest]

Maybe they'll shut down the Milford road and just keep the hollyford road. It seems a much less dangerous road for the winter.

While it will be disappointing to see the end of the hollyford track, I can understand the reasoning behind it.

[wayno]

three is no move from the govt to build the road, its purely from local businessmen who have roped in overseas developers.

[Champion_Munch]

Having just visited Milford yesterday, it's relieving to read the outcome of this monorail plan (months late as it may be). Was a nice spot but surprised about the number of tourists compared to the rest of nz that we've visited. Few seemed interested in soaking up the views or just enjoying the place, were mostly bustling their way down to the jetty for a cruise...can't imagine a worse way of enjoying a national park than spending it bunched up on a ship with a hundred people taking photos continuously.

We did the walk to key summit on the way back, expected loads of people as it gets listed as one of the best day walks in nz....basically had the track to ourselves! Loads of buses, vans and cars on the road from te anau but apparently everyone has come to fiordland just to see Milford.

Most concerning part of the articles about rejection of the monorail proposal is the implication that it would have gone ahead had it been economically viable. Minister cites environmental concern also but had it been economically viable, would it have gone ahead anyway?

[wayno]

the minister also wanted to know where the monorail path would be to assess how much it would affect sensitive habitats and rare bats but the developers said they wouldnt be able to provide that information unless it was approved.
they never stood a chance of making a profit out of the monorail.. they only planed to clear a 6m corridor for the monorail, they'd have to clear a 50m coridor to avoid tree fall damage on the monorail... they'd struggle to get the passsengers to make a profit and they'd leave a rusting hulk behind they'd never be able to afford to remove.
in heavy rain the buses wouldnt be able to transport passengers too and from the monorail because of flooded river crossings

one of the boat crew at milford told me quite a few of the tourists fall asleep on the 300k buss trip to milford from queenstown, wake up to get on the boat, fall asleep on the boat, wake up to get back on the bus and go back to sleep on the drive back..

[Kainas]

We did the walk to key summit on the way back, expected loads of people as it gets listed as one of the best day walks in nz....basically had the track to ourselves! Loads of buses, vans and cars on the road from te anau but apparently everyone has come to fiordland just to see Milford.

We had a similiar experience. The tour bus operator became immediately friendly upon hearing that we weren't doing the Milford track (but had done 3 other tracks in the area). She went on to talk about how it was a very different type of tourist that came for the Milford track (still want to do it eventually).

[wayno]

milford track is a real mixture, a lot of valley walking where you cant see past the trees...nice enough valleys but a lot of it isnt that much different from the rest of fiorldand or aspiring park. the mountain pass isnt that different either, the waterfalls are what makes it stand out especially if its raining... word of mouth is building the reputation of the routeburn, that is getting more and more booked out every season. i hope the kepler doesnt get like that, that track is far more dangerous and far more exposed to the elements... fiordland is prone to frequent strong winds as well as monsoon amounts of rain.. wettest place in the world at sea level.

[Kainas]

We did the Kepler and Routeburne (and Hollyford). We were under the impression that we had probably covered the area fairly well with those three. Still we both have a dream of spending 3 or 4 months with the kids (once the youngest is about 10yo or so) tramping all the major tracks and a good many of the minor ones.

[wayno]

We did the Kepler and Routeburne (and Hollyford). We were under the impression that we had probably covered the area fairly well with those three. Still we both have a dream of spending 3 or 4 months with the kids (once the youngest is about 10yo or so) tramping all the major tracks and a good many of the minor ones.

thats a major overstatement, fiordland is 250km from end to end, aspiring adds on half as much distance again... you'd need a boat or kayak to really cover the area and its extensive fiords and lake te anau.. friend of mine spent a month there and only covered a small portion of the area..
the dusky track is totally different to the great walks in the area. hump ridge track is different again. there are various other tracks and endless valleys and ridges in the area that can be traversed.

[Champion_Munch]

When I mentioned the tourists only interested in Milford, I meant the day trippers to the sound...doing the trek there would be a much more fulfilling way of visiting the area IMO.

What are the best walks to do in the area then? I've just recently done a couple of short day walks in fiordland and aspiring, all very excellent, would be good to come back one day and sample a few of the multidayers. Many seem to rank Milford and routeburn the best, but I would imagine both of these would be very busy most of the year.

[wayno]

depends what you're after , a lot of people go down there to walk off trail.. most tracks down there are very rough and get cut off frequently in heavy rain. for the size of the park there arent a great deal of tracks, hence being on the water is a good way to get around