Day Eighteen - Trans Alpine Railway - Christchurch to Greymouth

The Universe never ceases to amaze me, but I really do wish it would give me a break! Plenty going on at the moment both here and in UK.

Today we went on the Trans Alpine railway.  There are no trains in New Zealand.  Well that is a lie, there are some, but not many.  I originally wanted to either

Trans Alpin

drive or go on the Pacific road/train, but Mother Nature, obviously working in conjunction with her best friend The Universe, put pay to that but making the earth move and not in an erotic way (an earthquake last year). So it was decided that this was a good second best. Early start and the train left at 8.15 and it took 5 hours (yes you did read the correctly) to go through the Canterbury Plains then through the mountains and valleys before arriving at the destination of Greymouth.

The scenery was very beautiful and you could see it change from the planes to the streams and thens snow on the tops of the mountains. However, here I the rub, you had one hour and ten minutes in Greymouth then back on the train for the return journey of yes, you have guessed it 5 hours (it may have been

around 4.5 hours but either way). Nothing much in Greymouth apart from backpackers catching buses to go further south on the west coast.  I had a little chat with two Americans who were moaning about no longer getting their passport stamped when they go to countries.  I know what they mean.

The train had a buffet car, which was limited for vegetarians and a bit pricey. You could go up to the open sided viewing car but I did not bother. It was a lovely experience but a lot of sitting down, considering I will be doing a lot more soon anyway (when I fly home).  New Zealand really is a beautiful country and the train journey just highlight this. However, I am tired. I have not slept properly for two days now (approx six hours sleep in two days) and this is not good.  

I will leave you with some photos of my train trip.

As always, with my love x