I was lucky to go to New Zealand with my family this month, where we hiked the 55km Milford Track.

[andykm@mstdn.ca]

I was lucky to go to New Zealand with my family this month, where we hiked the 55km Milford Track. I'm starting to post photos on #Pixelfed but I thought I'd post this telecom connection here: When it was first opened in the 1800s, they used pigeons to carry messages between shelters along the track, but by the early 1900s somebody had installed a copper wire that ran the length of the track, over a mountain pass, providing phone service. This photo shows the remnants of a phone box in a tree along the first part of the track. By the mid 20th century, radios were in regular use and the phone line fell into disrepair. Even today, there is no cellular service anywhere near the track.