Hi,
I will have 10 days in NZ in late december this year. I was initally torn between tongariro and routeburn tramps, watched all the videos etc and was leaning towards tongariro, mostly becuase how unique and different the scenery looked to anything i'd seen in canada... then the volcano erupted... i see that part of the track is now reopened and saw a news reports saying they are hoping to reopen by the summer. should i still keep this in mind, or save it for the next time? is routeburn equally impressive for those who have done both?
if we focused on the south island alone could even squeeze a bit of the queen char also. i've spent a month in NZ a few years ago, traveled extensively but never got to do any hiking, now were taking a side trip from a visit to Aus just for that.
thanks for the feedback
tongariro circuit reopened by late december?
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sorry i forgot to add was also considering kepler just because of convenience of being round trip
I can't compare the two, but I've walked sections of the Routeburn from either end, and it was gorgeous.
The nice part about the Queen Charlotte and Abel Tasman is that you can walk sections as day walks, by taking a water taxi, and then walking back, or arranging both a drop off and pick up by water taxi. We've walked all but one section of the Queen Charlotte and most of Abel Tasman this way. It's a good option if you're short on time...or energy
You can also walk a section of the Kepler and then take a shuttle back if that appeals to you.
The Milford Sound day walk might interest you too - it's expensive, as you need to take the boat to/from the start of the track, but it's a good way to get a taste of it.
We've done both the Milford and Routeburn tracks and mountain biked part of the Queen Charlotte Track. We've also done the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is the one day tramp of part of the Tongariro Circuit.
We had gorgeous weather on Tongariro and still consider it one of our favorite day hikes in the world. The scenery is unique to anything you would see in Canada. However, I'm not sure I would do it over hiking in the South Island. The Milford, Routeburn and Queen Charlotte are all gorgeous also - each in their own way. The Queen Charlotte didn't feel as remote as the Milford and Routeburn tracks but we didn't get to the far end of the track. The Milford track is valley hikes with one pass to cross in between the two valleys. The Routeburn track is an alpine hike..
Given that part of the Tongariro track is still closed, I would pick a South Island hike.