Writing this on the Tranzalpine train, crossing from Greymouth to Christchurch.
It is supposed to be one of the great train journeys of the world and certainly feels like it, which is why I’m writing this now, in between looking at the amazing scenery – I only write when we’re in one of the 19 tunnels. The journey is 230 kms and takes four and a quarter hours from west coast to east coast, and we’ve already passed the half way-ish mark stopping to get out at the 737-metre Arthur’s Pass. The highest viaduct (which we’ve just gone over) is Staircase Viaduct at 73 metres.
The scenery really is wonderful all the way.
It rained all night in Franz Joseph – torrential rain (so guess no heli-hikes today either!) We left early for the ride to Greymouth – only a couple of hours, but we thought the overnight rain might make the journey slower and we needed to be in Greymouth for this train at 1.30. The idea was if we got there early enough, we’d both get haircuts as it was our last chance in an English speaking country. Job done.
Greymouth was a bit of a dump really, typical railway town, which is why I suppose no-one stops in it, just uses it to get the train. More later from Christchurch.
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