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Barry harcourt
Fiordland Outdoor Company owner Mark Wallace with his twin water taxi that will be used for a new service that will offer hikers access to the Milford Track.
Hikers who want to get onto the Milford Track, but can’t get a reservation, will have a different way of exploring it with a new water taxi service.
The service, launched by the Fiordland Outdoors Company, will allow hikers to hike to Giant Gate Falls on a day trip from Milford Sound.
The service will begin at the Deep Water Basin, transporting hikers to Sandfly Point, where they can hike 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 hadn’t previously realized that the Milford Track could be accessed from the Milford end without a guided tour.
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She has been operating there for 22 years.
The water taxi has capacity for 10 people, charging $ 50 per adult and $ 25 per child.
The company obtained a concession for the track before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The lack of international visitors hastened work to set up taxi service, as the company was taking a hit on its private guide and guided fishing packages, Wallace said.
Louisa Steyl / Things
The water taxi service will allow people to visit the Giants Gate Bridge located on the iconic Milford Track on a day trip. It had to be completely rebuilt after heavy floods in February wiped out the previous version.
Wallace acknowledged that it was a great leap of faith to start a new business during the impact the border closure was having on tourism, but the demand was so high that he thought it would succeed.
The Milford Track officially opened on Monday, allowing homeless people to complete the full 54 kilometers for the first time since it was damaged in the February floods. Reservations were sold out in 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 had to wait for the Giants Gate Bridge and other track work to be completed before the new service could open, Wallace said.
The new water service will begin on December 3.
Guided tours have been conducted from the end of the Milford Sound runway.
Trips and Tramps had already offered a day hike from Sandfly Point to Giant Gate Falls via guided tour for several years.
Trips and Tramps owner-operator Steve Norris said the water taxi would attract independent homeless people, which was a separate market from their guided tours.
The new service shouldn’t hurt his business and he wished the new service the best, Norris said.
Norris will begin their guided walking service this week.
