Travel Review: Tour of New Zealand, Milford Sound, Mount Aspiring National Park, Routeburn Track, Franz Josef Glacier Trek

1) schedule Milford Sound tour out of Wanaka - weather is a little more reliable

2) would like to have been warned that the Milford Sound and Franz Joseph helihikes are often cancelled due to weather.  We were not aware of this and felt disappointed at the time. We later came to learn that these trips are often cancelled.  If we knew that, we would have made alternate plans for each day so that we did not have to scramble at the last moment. Nonetheless, a quick refund was given for the tours we could no participate in.

3) pre-order food on TranzAlpine train ride. Had I known, I would have pre-ordered food. This was never offered and needs to be done at least 5 days ahead of time.

4) stay at a nicer hotel in Auckland - I wasn't fond of the hotel we stayed at and there was no breakfast available at the hotel making it difficult to leave quickly the next day as we had a long drive to Rotorua