Fiordland ideas for 22 April-10 May

Got some minor questions about driving at least 6h a day(from Milford!) and then doing some hikes? Basically I'm trying to squeeze Mt Iron in Wanaka and Roy Rob mountain hike (not only the valley), not sure if it would be feasible: 5 May Milford- Te Anau- Queenstown - Wanaka (6h) Mt Iron- panoramic views 4.5 km loop Walking and tramping 1 hr 30 min Or according to another site: Location: Central Otago Nearest Town: Wanaka Nearest City: Dunedin Length of Walk: 6.50kms Time Needed: 2 Hours Difficulty: Medium Wheelchair Access: No Route: Round Trip Elevation: 545m Wet Feet: No Toilets: Yes Dogs: Leash only Cellphone: Yes 6 May Wanaka - Rob Roy Glacier Valley track ( 3 hours, 12kms tramp + 4h drive) Or Rob Roy Track 10 km return via same track Walking and tramping 7h ? 7 May Wanaka- Mt Cook Village Hooker Valley Track ( 3h, 10 kms + 2.5h drive) 8 May Mt Cook Village - Queenstown 3.5h - Remarkables Road (Or lakes Hayes/Moke)

webcam on the kepler track, looks like its frosted over at present http://metdata.net.nz/doc/kepler/cam2/live.php

Hopefully it's the cam :D That or we get warm weather... And sunshine at Milford Sound!

""Snow closed the Milford Road overnight, and MetService issued road snowfall warnings for the Lindis Pass and Crown Range Road, as a disturbed west to southwest wind flow affects the country. Around 5.30am Wednesday MetService meteorologist Arno Dyason said he could see "a bit of a dusting" of snow on the Crown Range Road, while some of the mountaintops would have had a "good dusting" overnight.... MetService had said overnight snow could get down as low as 700 metres on the Milford Road and to 800m on the Crown Road Range. The NZ Transport Agency said State Highway 94 - the Milford Road - was closed overnight due to snow between Lower Hollyford Rd and Milford Sound. It expected an update by 9am."" https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103193259/snow-for-some-high-roads-showery-wednesday-for-many

Starting Routeburn tomorrow, wish me luck carrying a backpack for both of us, especially on the second day, 22km between Routeburn Flats and Howden Lake! Thanks again, Marian

Hope you are off the track by Fri mid-morning - looks like some rain coming your way. Wed, Thu look good, though. Don't forget to give us a report on your tramp.

Weather on Thursday could be showery: http://www.metservice.com/mountain/fiordland-national-park I would check forecast again tonight as conditions change constantly. Track itself is easy. Could be windy at Harris Saddle. "Toughest" section is Harris Bluffs. Get an early start Thursday to maximize your options and good luck.

Thanks guys!

Thank you everyone, New Zealand is the most beautiful country! Enjoyed everything: a) Got rained on Routeburn for a 15h day between Routeburn Flats and Lake Howden Huts (the wife didn't like it, I was ok, carrying the only pack luckily). Carried too much gear btw, no need for winter clothes. I would suggest to DEC to keep some spaces reserved at least one month in advance to people who want to do the traverse.. Did some some day trips such as the extended Key Summit, with probably better views than Routeburn on a sunny day... b) Kepler got closed due to snow and instead we went to Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers (loved the west coast beaches, such as Haast, Okarito, etc). Mt. Cook/Hooker Valley/Lake Tasman also have terrible rainy/stormy weather, as opposed to the sunny Twizel (just a place to sleep). In general we got about 1/3 of days with bad weather, which was fine. For example we got, unexpectedly the sunniest couple of days at Milford Sound! I changed my reservation just to chase good weather, but I had to pay $200 night (I think and that is ok, b/c in other places we stayed in hostels or in Airbnb) Same great weather in Queenstown and Wanaka (but that's expected), but not in Te Anau (at least we went to Doubftul Sound which wasn't on the list, but I'm happy we've seen an alternative to Milford Sound). c) The whole country is like a youth hostel :D Which is charming. Young people come with one year work visa usually (except the Germans which are flushed) and rent beat up cars in between jobs in cafeterias...At least 1/3 of the cars on the roads are tourists, also b/c apparently the locals don't travel/vacation much (we heard one host saying that they only travel for Christmas). I'm not surprised also given the cost of living (1 Kg of tomatoes being at least NZ/CAN $10). Posted some average photos here (all hand held and I made big mistakes using the new camera, still learning): https://500px.com/marianpredescu/galleries/new-zealand-2018 Going on more hiking trips now, like my yearly one in Charpatians (Fagaras and Retezat mountains), cheers everyone!

Very nice photos!