choosing an NZ hike with kids

its the total elevation change.... 1700m climbing and 1400m descending in two days, best way is going anti clockwise or you end up doing 1400m climbing in a day.... but the other way theres still a long steep descent at the end of two days of climbing and descending and its extremely exposed to bad weather which happens any time of the year. i've seen hypothermia in january and a pile of people panicked by cold bad weather to dumping their packs to get off the tops faster... kids have died on the routeburn from hypothermia in summer... i've found aussies can be likely to not understand NZ summers' sometimes to the point of not bringing cold or wet weather gear.... summer isn't a time for guaranteed good weather or even warm weather here, its more likely but by no means a certainty.... right now a lot of NZ is being slammed by cool heavy rain and very strong wind.... theres a reason why theres so many densely packed trees here.... massive amounts of rain, most of the year... kepler mountains forecast https://weather.niwa.co.nz/parks/Fiordland%20National%20Park/Luxmore%20Hut

I second the caution about the weather. I've never done the Paparoa and yes the west coast gets a lot of rain but like the previous post says, all of NZ gets rain at unpredictable moments. There is no time of year when you can guarantee good weather for the Kepler or the Paparoa or anywhere. You MUST take a waterproof, windproof outer layer and warm thermal layers (tops and pants) even if the weather forecast is spectacular. The weather forecast in NZ is wrong (very wrong) about 40% of the time. Be prepared and you'll be safe. I walked the Kepler for the first time when I was 12 years old and had no trouble. I was a fat but fit kid at the time. I am taking my kids to do it this October. They will be 7 and 9 but they are extremely experience trampers for their age and I wouldn't usually recommend kids that young do it unless they're parents are really really sure they're ready. The first day has a good solid climb but the track is in very good condition and graded to make the walking relatively achievable. Kids are usually immune to be the troubles us adults have with steep downhills because they have young knees and less weight. I'm sorry I couldn't give any info on the Paparoa. It's reasonably new and I haven't made it over there yet but hoping to get there before winter sets in!