Sometime in 1983, I read an article describing "The Finest Walk in The World, The Milford Track." Being naive, optimistic and adventurous, I sweet-talked ex-Marine (husband, Steve) into flying to New Zealand...an awfully long way to go...focusing on this 5-day, 4-night, 33 mile walk. I finally found a two-week tour that incorporated the Milford Track and was very inexpensive. Okay, let's call a spade and spade...it was cheap, cheap, cheap... Why? Read and you shall find out. I said I'm naive...and because it was over 20 years ago, I'm not even going to tell you the name of the tour operator. ( I'm also not going to give information about planning a New Zealand trip until later in this series.)

Made plans, flew Air New Zealand, Chicago-Los Angeles-Auckland, crammed into economy purgatory for who-knows how many hours (at least 18 from Los Angeles), arrived and flew directly to Christchurch, where the tour began. This was a group tour, but most of the people with us in the beginning were only doing the Milford Track portion. Jill, from Perth, Australia, was the only one doing the complete 14-day trip with us and our guide, Morris. It was a surprise to find a tour operator would even run a tour for three people. This tour encompassed the South and North Islands of New Zealand but fixated on the Milford Track, the other visits were just going to be gravy.