This weekend, a special group of 40 people are walking the Milford Track to celebrate 125 years since the track opened. Amongst the group is Dr Nick Smith, Minister of Conservation. There are also five guides dressed in 1890s clothing. They started October 31st and should finish today.
The Milford Track is in Fiordland National Park. It starts from the northern end of Lake Te Anau and finishes at Milford Sound. It is 54km long and walkers usually take 5 days and 4 nights. About 17,500 people walk the track each year, one third of them New Zealanders and two thirds international visitors. It is New Zealand’s most popular forest walk.
During this weekend, Dr Smith opened the new track to the Sutherland Falls. The old track has been closed for the last year by falling rock after heavy rain. The waterfall is 580m high and is spectacular. The new track has two 40m suspension bridges across a river. It is a short side trip from the main track.
Visit Great Walks to read about the nine Great Walks operated by the Department of Conservation.
Vocabulary
- Conservation – looking after our beautiful natural scenery
- National Park – a special place in the care of the Department of Conservation
- spectacular – wonderful to see, an amazing sight
- suspension – a wire bridge across a river; sometimes called a swing bridge because it moves when you walk across it
- operated by – the Department of Conservation (DOC) is responsible for this track; guides are employed by DOC
Grammar Note: It is correct to say “a group of 40 people is walking” but that seems strange so I chose to make “people” the subject of the sentence.