Don't ever miss this ! Part 2

All 4 photos from source: http://www.seat61.com/ ( Mark Smith)

Our Journey took off from Greymouth at 2.25 pm. We passed through the old mining town of Dobson, then crossed an ancient suspension bridge over the Grey River. Soon we arrived at Old Brunner Mine which was the site of New Zealand's worst mining disaster in 1896 which claimed 65 lives. The conditions inside our train was cosy and pleasant but outside was very misty. Still the scenery and views in winter was absolutely stunning. Chugging along smoothly, we passed by waterfalls, mountains, valleys and crossed over many low bridges which criss crossed over the river. We followed a deep valley across a shallow river and then came to Otira. This is the place where our train entered the Otira Tunnel at 8.6 km long( 5.3 miles ), making it one of the longest in NZ. It was completed in 1923. As soon as our train emerged from the dark recesses of the tunnel, we were at Arthur's Pass which was a major stop.

Passengers can get off the train for picture-taking, walk around or have a good stretch. We were in the heart of the Arthur's Pass National Park surrounded by snow everywhere. With so much snow around it wasn't surprising that people began to make snowballs and threw them at one another. We did so too! A very good relaxation activity.

On resumption, we passed more hills and plateaus and headed for the famous " Staircase",the highest viaduct at 73 metres high. This vantage point gave us all spectacular and panoramic views of the scenery before us. The train slowed considerably as it slowly wound itself over a series of short tunnels, deep gorges with steel girder bridges and then to the Waimakariri River Gorge of the Southern Alps. Descending, the train passed through Springfield and its foothills, Darfield a commuter town, animal farms and edged further away from the Alps.

Soon, we were on the flat Canterbury Plains open farmlands, passing small wooden suburban bungalows, freight yards, and the Addington Cement Works.

By then it was already early darkness of a cold winter evening as our Tranz Alpine train came to a halt at Christchurch station. Our location was about 3 km SW of the city centre.

We bade farewell to some of our fellow travellers as we went to retrieve our luggage.

Thus ended a journey never to be forgotten.

Don't Ever Miss this ! Part 1

All 6 photos from source: http://www.seat61.com/( Mark Smith )

The Tranz Alpine train journey is rated as one of the top 6 train journeys in the world. It travels from the west coast of NZ to the east coast from Greymouth to Christchurch and vice-versa. It crosses old mining towns, suspension bridges, waterfalls, mountains and valleys, tunnels, climbs the Southern Alps right into the heart of forests, the Waimakariri Gorge and fertile farmlands of the Canterbury Plains.

The carriage allows amazing views on board. There is an open-air viewing carriage that affords spectacular and stunning scenery. However, as we were in winter, the conditions outside were extremely cold, as the chilling winds made it an additional challenge to remaining outside for long. But it was worth the exposure.

The train is centrally heated in winter and has a buffet carriage. It is run bythe privatised NZ train operator TranzScenic. It runs once daily, to and fro. On flatland it travels at 60 mph. In all, the train will cross 16 tunnels, 5 viaducts...the highest being the Staircase at 73 metres.

Owl's Recommendation
This is one train journey no one will regret making.

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The Tranz Alpine ticket

This is the actual Tranz Alpine train ticket in my name.

On the front of the ticket is a picture of the train.

The reporting time given was 2.05 pm, that is check in time. The train promptly departed at 2.25 pm.

The same journey from Christchurch will depart from there at 8.15 am and arrive at Greymouth at 12.45 pm.

The 3 baggage claim stubs are still with me!

The Tranz Alpine Journey

Back in 1978, as President of Comex Singapore, an adventure travel club with more than 600 members in Singapore, I had organised and led our 1st European Expedition using the Eurail Pass mainly. It was a month long train journey that covered most of Europe, including the remote region of the Arctic Circle plus another 2 weeks of adventure in the UK. That was, for me and those with me,
an unforgettable journey of a lifetime, a dream spectacularly fulfilled.
But this Tranz Alpine train journey would top all that. It was that good! It surpassed all my previous train journeys for the sheer splendour and panoramic views D2 and I had experienced. Nothing in my previous experience had come close, except perhaps, our train journey on the Taieri Gorge Railway, South Island, NZ in 2005. But details on that will come much later on this site.
The advance booking for this was done by D4 while we were still in Singapore. The cost was $ 82 in NZ currency for a single ticket from Greymouth to Christchurch, a journey of 223.8 km long and takes about 4 and 1/2 hours in all.
After we had a simple lunch in the town centre, we headed for the Greymouth Train station by about 2.00 pm. We collected our tickets and our luggage was checked into the Baggage Carriage. We had 3 pieces of luggage. We proceeded to our assigned seats which were very comfortable. All in the carriage were excited and animated fellow travellers from various parts of the world. There was a couple who ran a poultry farm in the North Island and that was their 1st trip to the South! Amazing! And they weren't that young. I asked them for their honest opinion ...the beauty of the North, where they came from, versus the South. Without any hesitation their joint answer...."the South wins handsdown !".

[Hey you southerners....Maree, Nic, Karl,Judy,Margaret,Finnigan, Adrian and all....You owe me more than a beer huh, when we next meet ! ]
The photos showed us at Arthur's Pass, where all passengers were allowed to get off the train, shoot pictures, have snowfights, do whatever until the whistle blows for re-boarding.