New zealand alpine rock in june/july?

Hello, im looking for any beta on doing some longer alpine rock routes in NZ during june/july (i hear the weather isn't so good that time of year) ill probably have about 2 weeks to burn there.

My partner and i are comfortable on traditional lead climbing in the mid 20's , though really we are open to any long multipitch routes, just looking to get out and travel over some beautiful terrain. Any routes or area recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

We are also ok with doing snow or ice routes....though we'll need to rent gear

You might want to consider skiing rather than climbing. It's going to be winter. There isn't much in the way of alpine rock in NZ, even in the summer. The Darrans are supposed to have some good rock, but the weather is so unsettled there, it's not really worth it unless you get extremely lucky with the weather or live in NZ and can go when it's good. I doubt that the routes there are even accessible in the winter. There aren't many recommended alpine rock routes around Mt Cook either, and those are essentially summer objectives too. I'd recommend taking gear for sport climbing, since you might be able to clip some bolts on crags with good sun exposure. There is also some pretty amazing ski touring to be done from some of the alpine huts, but June/July may be too early. I'm guessing it's more of a spring season thing. I wouldn't bother taking trad gear, since there really won't be any opportunity to use it.

Cool thanks thats what i was looking for. Now in the ways of sunny sport crags.....if we had about 2 weeks and were looking to not need a car is there anywhere that has sunny aspects, cheap camping, high quality routes, walkable groceries, that kinda thing?

Probably Paynes Ford is your best bet. There is a lot of sport climbing around Wanaka and Queenstown too, but it's pretty scattered and it will be tricky without a car. I spent 2 summers climbing in NZ, but I've never been there in the winter. The weather is impressively frustrating. I climbed a route on Mt Cook once and then had to wait 17 days for another weather window to get on another alpine route. I filled that time with hiking and sport climbing when the weather allowed. But that's about how things go there. I was used to getting 10-12 routes done in a month on an alpine trip in Europe. In NZ, I once got 6 routes done in a 7-week trip, which is a productive season by NZ standards (3 of those were during a 1-week period of unusually stable weather, which I only saw once in the 2 seasons I spent there). My impression is that winters there are fairly harsh. NZ is really far south, which is why it's one of the main departure points for trips to Antarctica. So leave the trad gear at home. It's highly unlikely that you'll get to use it, especially in the winter and with only 2 weeks at your disposal.

Which island are you going to be on? I've lived in various parts of NZ for almost 8 years now - what Tom says is certainly true for the south island. There is precious little "alpine rock" in NZ anyway, certainly not in winter. The north island is much milder, generally and you will have decent days and colder nights. Most of the crags on the north island will be climbable all year 'round, and there are some new crags closer to auckland with many multipitch bolted routes (Castle Rock - not the one in wharepapa south, and buck rock). Whangnui bay/kawakawa bay are quite nice too.

If you want to be on the south (better) island - then paynes ford is the most logical option. It's a warm, single pitch sport crag with hundreds of routes. Once you're there you won't need a car, but good luck getting there and back without one. The sport climbing around wanaka is very good, but like Tom says it is hit or miss in the winter.

The new "Rock Deluxe" guidebook may be out by the time you get here - it's like a "selected best" of climbs in nz. There is a new South island edition coming out and a brand new North island edition on it's way.

Ice climbing is probably not worth it. The most reliable crag on the south island is Wye Creek and it's a few hours of walking to get there and it's not that great. Good luck trying to rent any decent gear too.

But to be perfectly honest - NZ in the winter sucks balls. It's damp, it's cold and it's dark. Some good skiing can be done, and you might get lucky with the weather. You will probably need a car for anything you do.