Our Tranz Alpine rail journey

We had great weather for our Tranz Alpine train journey and enjoyed some spectacular scenery.  Leaving the coast with the Tasman sea we travelled through the Grey river valley, surrounded by the podocarp forest and passing beside the pretty lake Brunner.  

We gained 737m of elevation travelling upwards through the mountains to our highest point at Arthurs Pass, enjoying great views of the mountains and forests along the way.   As we decended from the pass we crossed a labyrinth of gorges over a high viaducts and decended from the foothills of the Alps in to the Canturbury Plains. The whole journey was like travelling in our own documentary, as we listened to the on-board commentary with lots of geolocial and sociological facts.  It was a great way to see the huge range of mountains from coast to coast, from the comfort of the train.  

Once we arrived in Christchurch we headed out to meet some of our friends from Cardrona who were also in town for a couple of days before carrying on their own adventures.  

We finished the evening with cocktails and mexican Mexicano's and a good nights sleep in jail, before taking our return trip back to the West Coast the following morning.