63 and free

We just had to do the TranzAlpine train (I kinda like trains). It runs from Christchurch to Greymouth and back, over the southern Alps. Given that it’s 4 1/2 hours one way, we decided to break it up with an overnight stay in Greymouth, rather than return the same day.

The jury is out on whether that was a good decision, given that one would not exactly call Greymouth a place that uplifts one’s soul. But we managed it okay (see our last post).

The train itself is wonderful! A tiny fraction of the cost of the Rocky Mountaineer: it is a much better value.

Heading west, it crosses the Canterbury plains, before climbing up into foothills and then mountains.

It keeps climbing, crossing many bridges, passing through 5 tunnels and crawling along narrow paths in cliffs. We tried not to think about earthquakes.

Once in the “High country”, the valleys are flat-bottomed, having been filled with glacial gravel.

Historical “Arthur’s Pass” is the first place it stops to allow passengers to stretch their legs. The nutcases leave the train here and hike for about 4-5 hours before catching it on the return trip.

Shortly after Arthur’s Pass, it passes through the 8.5 kilometre Otira tunnel, which was built between 1907 and 1923. It was a truly remarkable feat considering it is such a steep grade (called a “1 in 33” grade here, or a 3% grade in Canada, it drops 820 feet from east to west). When the two tunnels met, the error was in the tens of centimeters! Gotta admit those Engine-gears are rather talented folk! No idea how they managed that back then.

The southern Alps, while certainly not the Rockies, offered plenty of lovely sites.