Christchurch And The Tranz Alpine Railway

All Aboard

Our bus winded it's way up the east coast and after five hours we reched the largest city on the South Island - Christchurch. It is described as the most English of NZ's cities and although it's center sits along the Avon River and a grand Anglican cathedral rises above the cities central square, we didn't really feel as though we were back home. I can't describe exactly what it was about the place but it never felt like England to us. However, Christchurch, in it's own way is a pleasant place to spend a few days. We covered some ground while we were here - through the cities center and out towards the botanical gardens to the east of town.

Christchurch is also the gateway to one of the world's great railway journey's. The Tranz Alpine traverses the country, taking you from Christchurch on the east - to Greymouth, which sits on the western shore by the Tasman Sea. It's described as one of the most scenic travel experiences you can take - so we thought we had to book ourselves on. The plan was to take a one-way trip to Greymouth and then get a bus from there back over to the east coast for our next destination - Kaikora. Unfortunately there is no bus that goes from Greymouth to Kaikora so in the end we were booked on a return journey - all in one day. This was the first and probably the last time that I would be taking any form of transport not to actually go anywhere. We were soley taking this train ride - just for the train ride.

The Tranz Alpine Railway was worth the day out. It starts off cutting the flat alluvial Canterbury plains to the foothills of the Southern Alps. It then enters a labyrinth of gorges and hills known as the Staircase before emerging into the broad Waimakariri and Bealey Valleys. You reach the half way mark, crossing beech forests and snowcapped mountains, before stopping at Arthur's Pass within the Arthur's Pass National Park. You then take a series of tunnels under the mountains to the west coast. On the western side, you pass further rivers, forest valley's and the trout-filled Lake Brunner before arriving in Greymouth. Most passengers then disembark and continue on their way. For us however we did the whole stunning journey in reverse back to Christchurch. It was a great trip even if I am now completely all train'ed out for a good while.

We left Christchurch, continuing north along the South Island's east coast. It was our final stop on this half of the country.....we had arrived in Kaikora.