Q’land Bush Walkers Enjoyed Milford Track

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30958, 14 January 1966, Page 6

Q’land Bush Walkers Enjoyed Milford Track

Full marks must go to the Government Tourist Bureau for the way it ran the Milford Track, said Mr Arthur Sutton, publicity officer for the Queensland Youth Hostels Association, in Christchurch on Wednesday. Mr Sutton was accompanied by six members of a party of 28 youth hostellers from Queensland who are spending six weeks travelling around New Zealand.

Arriving at Wellington by air, the party split up into smaller groups as the original group was too large to be accommodated in the avail-

able youth hostels. Mr Sutton, a health inspector, toured the North Island in a minibus with his party, which was made up of three school teachers,_ a typist, an ambulance driver and an accountant. While they were in the North Island this party climbed Mount Tongariro. They found the youth hostel accommodation very good and conveniently spaced.

Everywhere they went the party was impressed by the number of Australians who use or who have used the Youth Hostel accommodation in New Zealand. In their own original party a large number were school teachers, probably because they have longer holidays, said Mr Sutton.

■ Eleven members of the original party met in the South I Island to walk the Milford ■ Track. The other members [of the party did not w’alk I the track; either because they thought it was too expensive lor because they did not have [enough holidays. It was well worth every penny spent, [said Mr Sutton. I He had warned those members of his party who wished |to walk the track that ths* (would need to be pretty fit, [but to their surprise they (found it was pretty easy going.

Mr Sutton is a foundation member of the Queensland Bush Walking club which wat instituted last year. “For a» experienced bush walker th* Milford Track was very easy." said Mr Sutton.

Most of the party will return to Australia at their leisure. Group travel concessions between Australia and New Zealand were fairly relaxed, said Mr Sutton. They stipulated that the original party must return by the same mode of transport and from their port of arrival but not necessarily in the same I group.