Christchurch - Greymouth - Christchurch

Today I did the TranzAlpine which is a rail journey that crosses the South Island from Christchurch to Greymouth going through Arthurs Pass National Park. It's rated as one of the best railway journeys in the world!

This meant I had to get up early! I got a free shuttle to the railway station and checked in. I had been allocated seats and they turned out to be nice ones as well!

On the outward journey I sat at a table opposite a german dude who is travelling to Greymouth and then down to the glaciers. He moaned quite alot though about hostels and travelling in general so I put my Ipod on and ignored him as much as possible!

The journey started off really grey and misty but it soon cleared up as we headed towards the mountains. I went to the viewing carriage to get some photos but there was no space and people weren't budging! I just went back to my seat and enjoyed the views from the windows! No photos though as the glass windows create a reflection on my camera!

The weather got alot better as we headed towards Greymouth and when we stopped at Arthurs Pass it had cleared up quite alot. We stopped at Arthurs Pass for 10 minutes which gave us enough time to alight and take some photos. The mountains along here were gorgeous and there was a lot of native bush. This was quite different from the landscape when leaving Christchurch over the Canterbury Plains - Very flat and boring, used mainly for agriculture.

Towards Greymouth the scenery was much more scenic with mountains, rivers and lotsof shrub and bush forests.

Greymouth is as the name suggests - very boring. i had already come through Greymouth with Kiwi Experience so I knew that it was pretty pathetic! I just had a quick spin around the shops and got a sandwich for lunch! I only had an hour before I got on the train again so it was short but sweet!

Back on the train I was on a different carriage and it was all airline style so I had the 2 seats to myself! Across the aisle was a bloke from the UK who had just come up from Queenstown and was heading to Christchurch and onto Kaikoura and Wellington. We chatted for quite a bit - about our travels mainly! The weather turned pretty ugly on the way back and at some points you couldn't see much for the rain. It did give a different perspective on the landscape though!

It was a long day but definitely worth it! The train was 45 minutes late getting into Christchurch as we had stopped and started a hundred times for line works or coal trains!

Back at my hostel in Christchurch I got off the railway shuttle and as I was walking into the hostel I bumped into some of the guys I had left behind in Queenstown! They were finishing their trips in Christchurch so this is the last time that I'll see them! Also outside were a couple of girls from my bus yesterday and they were off to see King Kong. They asked if I wanted to go but it started in half an hour and I hadn't had dinner! One of the recwption guys was outside and reccommended a chinese takeaway so I headed off to get some dinner.

Back in the hostel room some irish girls had just arrived from Australia so we got chatting!

It was quite late so after chatting to the girls I went to bed!