How a group of young trampers opened the world-renowned track to the masses
When 40 excited teens and twenty-somethings boarded a bus bound for Fiordland, they had no idea they were about to embark on a landmark trip that would change the face of tramping in New Zealand. That’s no exaggeration, for without that rebellious bunch from Dunedin, it’s possible the Milford Track – the country’s most iconic walk – would not exist. And it’s also possible that many of today’s Great Walks would have become private – only open to those with the deepest of pockets. Yet – be honest – who has actually heard of the freedom walk of 1965? I hadn’t. Yet it’s a vital part of the history of this world renowned track. The heroes of the story were 40 members of Otago Tramping Club (as it was then known). They were all young – some only 16 – but this was the 1960s and youngsters were refusing to accept the stuffy laws of establishment for the sake of it. At the start of the decade, the Milford Track was as highly regarded as it is today, but was a private track for the rich. It was managed by a government department called the Tourist Hotel Corporation (THC). The THC could give freedom trampers permission to walk the track. But rarely did, if ever. The draconian reality of this was felt by students at Auckland University when, in 1962, after paddling on Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, they decided to try walking the Milford. They were soon stopped, told they couldn’t continue and were marched away. When they complained to the ombudsman they were told they were too small a group to take on the might of the THC. But groups such as the Federated Mountain Clubs started to question the legality of refusing freedom walkers the right to walk on land situated inside a national park. The issue gathered momentum and reached a head in 1965 when the THC applied to the National Parks Authority to lease the track and the surrounding land – in effect, giving authority for the track to remain private. That was when John Armstrong and other members of Otago Tramping Club said enough was enough. Though only 26, Armstrong was one of the senior members of the club and led the trip that made history. Determined to show people weren’t prepared to accept being told where they could and couldn’t walk, a bus load travelled to Te Anau. “We didn’t ask permission,” says Armstrong. “We instead advised the authorities that we were going. We reasoned that the track was part of the national park and that they couldn’t stop us. “Fiordland National Park responded that we were not allowed to go without THC permission. A THC manager in Dunedin at one point stood up, hit his desk with his fist and said ‘permission not granted, repeat NOT GRANTED!’ [caption id="attachment_4797" align="aligncenter" width="834"]
