Tranzalpine Train over the Southern Alps

Today I took the Tranzalpine train from Christchurch on the Pacific to Greymouth on the Tasman Sea. A trip of four and a half hours each way with a one hour stop in Greymouth. It was quite an adventure, made all the more exciting by the weather: gale force winds and driving rain for most of the way. I did venture out onto the open-air viewing platform for quite a long time before the rain become really bad. I thought I was going to be blown off the train at one point. So, I decided that caution was the better part of valor and - what did it matter if there were a few reflections on my photos.

The trip started in a suburb of Christchurch, Addington, and we rode through the Canterbury Plains, a dry area with warm, blustery (and then some!) winds, carved into a patchwork of grazing and croplands. Closer to the coast, there are rolling farmlands interspersed with wide, “braided” rivers. On its way to the Pacific, the great Waimakariri River carries rocks and shingle debris from the Southern Alps to create the fertile Canterbury Plains. I noticed the river formation from the air when I flew in and thought it was most unusual. These rivers are called “braided” because the strands of the river braid with the debris. Does that make sense? I guess you have to see it! As we approached the Southern Alps, which divide South Island in two, the farmlands gave way to tussock vegetation and beech forests. (Incidentally, there are only two roads and one railroad through the Alps.) We climbed through alpine foothills and the Waimakariri Gorge to Arthur’s Pass, at 737 m, surrounded by high peaks with some snow. Arthur’s Pass National Park is a mecca for walkers and trampers (hikers) and skiers. By this time, the rain was torrential and the Taramakau River, which flows to the Tasman Sea, was a rushing grey torrent, the likes of which I have never seen, not even in the Swiss Alps in the spring. We emerged from the Otira Tunnel into the rainforest of the West Coast, a completely different landscape – very primeval with palms, ferns and lush vegetation. This area has the highest rainfall in New Zealand and currently is having the highest rainfall in 7 years, with its incipient flooding problems. Along the way, we saw blue and pink lupins along the riverbanks and on shingle islands, and yellow broom, both of which were introduced. The only wildlife we saw were recently sheared sheep and their lambs. I caught a glimpse of a red-beaked black shorebird, but have no idea what it was.

Our trip ended in Greymouth, on the West Coast, which lived up to its name today! It is becoming a tourist destination, but today it looked bleak. We had an hour to poke around while the train was taken off to be cleaned. The weather did not get any better until we were close to Christchurch where is was and still is sunny and mild. (And it will be light until 9pm!). I treated myself to a cream tea on the train – the weather simple demanded it!!!

The journey was 231 kms. long and took us through 19 tunnels and over several viaducts, the highest of which is the Staircase at 73 m. We saw several lakes, renowned for fishing and summer activities. Gold was once mined in the Greymouth area, but now it is coal, which is transported on the same railroad line as the Transzalpine; in fact, without the coal, there would be no railroad. We passed the site of a recent derailment of a coal train – crews were busy trying to right the enormous coal cars. Coal is an important part of the West Coast economy; 1.5 million tons are exported each year.

Despite the weather, I enjoyed the beautiful and dramatic scenery and learning the history of the area. I am looking forward to exploring the southern part of the Southern Alps in Fiordland later this week.