Greenstone, then Routeburn --- thoughts?

It should be a good Tramp 2 years ago walked the Routeburn,Caples then Greenstone in one go.The Caples is the hardest of the Three. In general i dont think there is anything wrong with solo tramping as i allways solo tramp,i take a locator beacon with me and dont go off the track i let family know what i am doing and fill in hut books and fill out the intentions form at the doc office Lindsay

Yes, it has a well deserved reputation - I did the Routeburn then Greenstone in April 2009 - 5 days. The Routeburn (3 days) included 3 people not used to overnight tramping (the plan saw them head out to the Divide and back to Queenstown). We had an easy tramp down the Greenstone (2 days). A 7 day tramp would leave you a lot of time for side trips (Conical Hill, Key Summit). Our original plan was to walk the Routeburn then the Caples but heavy rain (185mm in 14hrs) made it a bit risky. Another tramp worthy of consideration is the Travers-Sabine loop (out from St Arnaud) - 6 to 8 days. Solo tramping? no problem; do the appropriate preparation (as Lindsay said), take sufficient gear for the conditions and stay within your comfort zone (and have fun!)