What to Do in TeAnau if Milford Sound Rd is Closed.
 

Its still not clear when they will get the Milford Sound Rd open. We’re hearing from locals that it may be quite sometime, possiblly a month, Our plans as of now are to arrive in Te Anau on a Friday afternoon, spend the night. Go to Doubtful sound for overnight cruise Saturday day;night (This is not effected by current road issues.). Rtn from cruise on Sunday afternoon. Spend the night in TeAnau. On Monday we have an all day excursion to Milford Sound. Spend Monday night in Te Anau. Leave Te Anau on Tuesday.
We are following road conditions and have been in touch with the tour company who at this time are not clear when the road will open..
we are thinking about what to do if the Milford Sound excursion is cancelled. Are there options of other things to do, such as hikes/walks around TeAnau that we could do? Or should we cancel our last planned night in TeAnau and adjust our plans; going elslewhere? WDYT? Thanks,

No one knows when Milford Road will open, though NZTA was optimistically hoping that it would open this coming week. I suppose it depends on how their work goes and if we get more rain. You'll have to just keep checking the Milford Road status page:https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh...d-road-status/

When you get to Te Anau, ask for suggestions at the I-Site Tourist info as they'll have up to day into of the condition of walking tracks, Milford Road, etc. There is also a DOC (Dept. of Conservation) office next to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary on the lake:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/teanaubirdsanctuary

From Te Anau, you can do a day walk on the Kepler Track..
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-re...o-luxmore-hut/
https://www.fiordlandoutdoors.co.nz/...ck-day-hikers/
More day walk options here:
https://www.fiordland.org.nz/about-f...g/short-walks/

Te Anau also has glow worm cave tours, offered by Real Journeys:
https://www.realjourneys.co.nz/en/ex...lowworm-caves/

Te Anau has a popular pie shop, Miles Pies.

I would cancel the last night and go back to Queenstown. You can always do Milford from there if the road does in fact open. If not, there are other excursions/walks from near Queenstown (eg you could go up to Kinloch/Glenorchy).

Note that I have never understood the attraction of Te Anau in and of itself other than location. There tend to be more sandflies there than in Qtown and the scenery is similar to elsewhere in Fiordland.

Where will you be going after Te Anau?

If you are going on a cruise of Doubtful Sound, you will likely see and experience similar landscapes except the fjord at Milford is narrower and the cliffs steeper. If it is important for you to see Milford, perhaps consider viewing it from the air if the skies are clear. I enjoyed seeing and experiencing Milford from the water and then seeing it and Doubtful and probably a dozen other fjords from the air. Otherwise, the suggestions that Diamantina gave you are good. I think the Kepler is worth a look, and ran out of time for the glow worm caves.

We are going on the excursion you did including the plane ride. We have been in touch with the company. As of late this am they said they have been advised the road will open by the 15th. I hope for their and our sake it is. If we miss it its no big deal, but must be losing boatloads of $.

Quote - “I would cancel the last night and go back to Queenstown. You can always do Milford from there if the road does in fact open. If not, there are other excursions/walks from near Queenstown (eg you could go up to Kinloch/Glenorchy).
Thanks, mlgb. What makes Fodors great is the diversity of opinion. We don't plan or want to go to Queenstown.

Diamantina- As always, such helpful info- i think we will stay in TeAnau regardless of our day to Milford Sound. Right now after TA we plan to go to Mt Cook.

That's great that you'll be doing the same excursion as tripplanner001, whose trip report left me in awe. I am seriously feeling envious now.
Have a fabulous time and I wish you the best of weather.

Quote - “I would cancel the last night and go back to Queenstown. You can always do Milford from there if the road does in fact open. If not, there are other excursions/walks from near Queenstown (eg you could go up to Kinloch/Glenorchy).
Thanks, mlgb. What makes Fodors great is the diversity of opinion. We don't plan or want to go to Queenstown."

That's fine. Queenstown/Wanaka or even Arrowtown are interchangeable in my mind. An alternate base for hiking access to the lower end of the Routeburn, although it sounds as if it is also devastated by recent rains. Not sure what the status of any other possible walks might be, the Lake Sylvan walk is easy. The road to Paradise is aptly named if you give up on hiking. Although if the rain has hit that area, you possibly wouldn't be able to cross the stream to get there.

Hooker Valley is probably my favorite walk in Aoraki/Mt. Cook.

All thinks South Island are weather-related, aren't they? I've often found the best weather around Queenstown, the Remarkables seem to do a good job of creating a bit of a rain shadow.

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/wanaka...state-makarora

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/stranded-tourists-all-out-milford-sound

Sorry to hear about the Milford road issues, Yes. Fingers crossed that it will be open for you. In any case,
sounds like a nice Doubtful trip, with lots of other replacement activities suggested here. We all enjoyed the glow worms trip, though realize it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Thank you! We are already having a fabulous trip. I doubt there is anyplace in NZ that wouldn’t delight us. We just canx Fran Josef because its forecast to rain, rain and more rain. If the forecast changes, so will we.

mlgb- thanks for your suggestions. I’m sure they will come in handy. I know the Milford Track is closed for awhile. I also believe i read Routeburn is close indefinitely. Haven't followed that one. From the news it looks like terrible destruction from that last storm.

glover- where we are staying has a glow worm trail. We just came back from it. Incredibly cool! Scary as anything walking thru a forest in the pitch black darkness. They have a rope you hold onto, the other side is a cliff into a stream i think. No way would the US allow a place like this. It was fun though.

Tomorrow we head down the West Coast where nice weather will continue or so the forecasters say. Thanks, everyone!

If you like to walk/hike I'd spend that time in Te Anau anyway - there are some fabulous walks in the area.

I googled, but can't find why Milford Road is closed...any insight?

Huge rains and landslides, not sure what will be open for walks in the entire Fiordland/Mt Aspiring area (Including round Te Anau). Many are closed for the season.

Otago Times says by this weekend they hope the road to be open "for essential services" Thereafter for tourist buses. But not sure that includes private vehicles for a while.Access was likely to be via convoys with strict supervision given the rockfall risk and need to keep repairing key sections of road.

Destination Fiordland manager Madeleine Peacock said there were still plenty of tourism opportunities in Fiordland and some operators were flying people into Milford Sound from Te Anau and Queenstown.

‘‘Doubtful Sound is still open for business and so those companies, as much as possible, have added extra capacity to allow for visitor overflow from Milford.’’


https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southl...-milford-sound

I hope this doesn't come to pass, but it's something you should be aware of.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12307946
https://www.metservice.com/warnings/...clone-activity

Yes, thanks, i have been following this and rain is definitely on its way come Sunday. Whether its a cyclone or not is still uncertain i gather. Thats why i cancelled our time at Franz Josef glacier.

Melq, yes, i think we will stay in TeAnau.

Yes, thanks, i have been following this and rain is definitely on its way come Sunday. Whether its a cyclone or not is still uncertain i gather. Thats why i cancelled our time at Franz Josef glacier.

Melq, yes, i think we will stay in TeAnau.

Thanks for the info. Good old NZ, unpredictable as always.

What's that saying, If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes? Sunday looks bad in Fiordland and the West Coast. Good luck~ I'd want to be east of the Southern Alps by then.

Just FYI: Now it looks like ex-cyclone Uesi won't be dumping too much rain on Fiordland.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...s-south-island

But it's wise that you've made plans to move on anyhow.

Typically these ex-cyclones hit NZ in Feb. or March. The last bad one was in Feb. 2018 in the form of ex-cyclone Gita, which hit hardest in the Nelson-Tasman region..

Ex-cyclone Fehi also caused devastation in Feb. 2018.

Yes, we decided yesterday that we are going to leave Punakiki and go to Christchurch. The question is should we leave late Satruday and drive via Arthur’s Pass or go early Sunday, go N to Westland and cut over via Lewis Pass. Reports are that the rain starts like 4 am Sunday South of Otira, but not until 10am Northwards. If we leave Saturday we would lose a nights paud lodgin here in Punakiki. Obviously we dont want to take any risks because of $. We’re checking Meteo a couple times a day and will see what the forecast beings tonight. Hard to judge how bad it could be not being from here. Sounds pretty nasty for driving esp having having to go over a pass.

Even those of us who live here, never know exactly what to expect. I think you're doing your best by continually checking the weather. I do the same all the time.
Saturday is supposed to be all right. Sunday is expected to be bad, so I agree you'll probably be driving in the rain, possibly heavy rain.

Leaving aside the question of when the rain starts I like the Arthur's Pass route better. Castle Hill is an interesting stop as is the NP. Watch out for the Kea! Had one perch on my side mirror once at a parking lot in AP.

The storm seems to be losing strength. Heavy rains and winds are expected to hit many areas on Sunday and Monday, "but at this stage it appears that levels won’t cause significant problems".
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southl...-runs-out-puff

Thanks! Good to read, while Arthur’s Pass would be our preferred route since the rain starts earlier and is expected to be heavier There we may still go via Lewis Pass. Will check meteo after this evenings bulletins.
you can tell a storm is out there, big waves with white caps today.
i appreciate everyone’s comments!

Based on weather forecast, we left Fox River early
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1ed94e6a0.jpeg
and only had some rain on the way to Lewis Pass. Once over the mountain we actually had sunshine. Left the storm behind, for now at least.

Yay, glad you made it and found some sun! Now, on with the adventure!

Yes, nice to see the sun breaking through. Sunday was a pretty good day along the East Coast of the South Island, but today is even better (warm and sunny) so I'm sure you're making the most of it. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your trip and no longer have to worry about ex-cyclones and road closures!

Thanks! We’re enjoying Christchurch and then to Wanaka tomorrow before TeAnau on Friday, its warm and a touch muggy, but we’re happy.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...efee76d23.jpeg

Great! Nice to be able to watch the world go by from your window.

Just found this tread, yes travel and interesting to follow your changing plans. we had only booked a night in Wanaka but ended up spending 3 there as we realised that by then we would need a decent stop after a lot of driving from Auckland to FJ. [not all at once!] We also spent 3 nights in QT but introspect going straight to Te Anau from Wanaka is probably a better choice. And the Doubtful Sound trip was terrific.

Where do you go after Te Anau?

i guess it sounds like lots of changed plans. However all we did was canx Franz Josef and instead ended up in Christchurch. Christchurch seemed to be the best choice given the bad storm we wanted to avoid. I started this thread because of all the damage done in a storm several weeks back that destroyed a portion of the road to Milford Sound. As of now they are running convoys out to the sound so we should be fine for our time in that area.
so now we are back on track in Wanaka.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c21ebeecc.jpeg

yestravel - some friends just left Wanaka yesterday after also having to divert from the West Coast. Said they had some beautiful weather there and are thoroughly enjoying their trip. As you are, I hope!

Just wait 5 minutes and it will be fine!

<< I guess it sounds like lots of changed plans. However all we did was canx Franz Josef and instead ended up in Christchurch. Christchurch seemed to be the best choice given the bad storm we wanted to avoid. >>

Oh the infinite possibilities of the internet for misunderstandings. I meant "changing" in the sense of "evolving" - nice to see that they are now fully formed. We did the same thing - not because we were avoiding bad weather, but because we realised that we had been far too ambitious with the amount of driving our route would require over too short a time, which is why we ended up with 3 nights in Wanaka instead of one. It turned out to be one of the best parts of our trip.

Thank you! Yes, absolutely loving NZ. The remnants of the cyclone were pretty bad. It didn't hit Fiorland as much so the temp road is still operating.

annhig-Yes, our plans have evolved. Thankfully everywhere we are staying has generous canx policies. Wanaka is really pretty. It has the most tourists we have seen. When we went into town for dinner we actually had to hunt for parking. Shocking!

"It has the most tourists we have seen."

Yes, Wanaka's a lovely but popular resort. On top of its own natural attractions and abundance of outdoor activities, it's regarded as a alternative to Queenstown, similar in scenery but less crowded, busy and commercial. Normally, Wanaka would be even more crowded because it's a favorite with Chinese tourists; many go skydiving there. During the 2017 Chinese New Year holidays, Chinese holidaymakers chose to stay in Wanaka over Queenstown, while Queenstown was left with many vacancies.

The Challenge Wanaka triathlon took place on Saturday, Feb. 15. Perhaps some participants decided to stay longer.

Also, I think many travelers, like you, ended up making alternative plans because of the weather, road and track closures. According to the ODT, "Seventy-five tracks are presently closed across the region from Fiordland and into the southern end of Mount Aspiring Park." (Feb. 18 article)

More updates here:https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/issues/...-in-fiordland/

The absence of the Chinese tour groups is noticeable. I feel badly for the businesses but am quite happy to be missing them. I think the restriction on their entry may be lifted. I have to check. We flew thru Beijing on our way to Sri Lanka which is where we started this trip. This was early January before the virus was known about. NZ still does not have a case i believe.
Along the lake today.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...522e5fd34.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d44d16acf.jpeg

Great weather!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f5d4a8774.jpeg
Yes, overall we have had great westher except for missing out in Franz Josef Glacier. Hoping for at least decent weather when we hit TeAnau.

That damned tree...