My wife and I are planning a trip to the South Island in February 2008. We are thinking of either doing the Routeburn or Milford Track or doing day hikes on either or both. We are also thinking of doing day hikes around the Mt. Cook area. My wife has difficulty with exposure to severe drop-offs. She is OK with hiking to look-outs, so long as there are not places along the track where there are abrupt drop-offs right next to the trail. Is this a problem on either of the tracks? Are there day hikes on the tracks or in the Mt. Cook area that would get us to vistas without such exposure? Any commentary would be greatly appreciated.
1

wildsnow
No worries, your wife will be fine on both the Routeburn and the Milford, no abrupt drop-offs on these tracks! However, there are swingbridges on the Milford, though quite stable ones - just in case she doesn't like that kind of height either.
Pro tip