What a fantastic experience! We met in Te Anau Visitor Centre, Trudy was our guide/driver for the day. She explained the itinerary before jumping on the 20-30 minute shuttle to Te Anau Downs, there we got on the 1 hour ferry to the start of the Milford Track.

The tour took us off the main track following an old river bed, with so many plants, mosses, ferns, trees to tell us about, there was never a dull moment.

We were lucky enough to see robins, fan tails, tui, bell birds and a baby weka!!

Eventually we got to the first hut (Glade Hut) where we had lunch before following the Milford Track for a couple of kms.

It was beautiful, following the river before turning back around and making our way back to the boat.

Fantastic introduction if you are looking to take a glimpse of one of NZ's greatest walks and don't perhaps have time or a booking for the full walk. It was a fairly easy walk which you can do with trainers (no need for hiking boots).

There may only be a few kilometres of road on Stewart Island but it is well worth taking the bus tour to see what is otherwise out of way of a day's walk. The tour takes you from Oban jetty to Observation Rock then around the bays and along Lee Bay Road to view the Anchor Chain Sculpture. This is the Stewart Island end of sculpture, the other end can be seen at Stirling Point, Bluff. The tour only takes a couple of hours but the views and the commentary make it a very informative excursion.

Super efficient ferry service - 1 hour crossing - staff are great - what more is there to say. Only other option is to fly which is a lot more or charter your own boat.