Hello - We are leaving for our 2-week trip to the South Island of New Zealand on October 30th. I was wondering if there were certain activities that we needed to book ahead of time -- like ziplining in Queenstown, Milford cruise, Glacier walk, etc. Or, do people generally wait and book those activities once they have already arrived in New Zealand? Thanks for your expertise 
Book ahead for New Zealand activities?
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I've only booked one activity in the 15 years I've been going to NZ, and that was a Kiwi viewing tour in Okarito, which ended up being cancelled anyway.
As you're not traveling during the high season, I suggest you wait until you arrive, see what the weather is up to and then play it by ear.
However, if you have limited time in a certain area and have no wiggle room in your itinerary, you might want to book things like glacier hikes, so you don't miss out. I generally tell people to allow enough time in a given area so that if an activity gets cancelled due to weather, they'll have another shot at it on another day.
One notable exception though - the overnight Doubtful Sound Cruise - it can fill up early. We took the daytime Doubtful Sound cruise in June and just turned up and hopped on, but that was winter.
No need to book for daytime Milford cruises, but if you're considering the overnight cruise, you'll probably need to book that ahead as well.
For the date you are here there should be no reason to pre book. Queenstown has plenty of bookig agencies and toursit bureaus with numerous options and you might get some discounts as it is between seasons.
I agree with above no need to book and better to wait and see what the weather is doing at the time.