Trans- Alpine

We took Ubers to and from the Sudima Hotel to register and get the official briefing instead of the quickie registration alternative at the rail station in the morning.

The Trans-Alpine departs Addington Station from Christchurch at 0815. This is not an easy rail station to find nestled behind a massive Bunnings in an industrial area.

Highlights of the trip are several (like 20 tunnels), viaducts, wonderful views of the river gorge, clouds decorating the mountain peaks, and sheep and cattle. It's a 5.5-hour ride East to West across New Zealand to Greymouth.

That large brown area in the background is a landslide where the top of the mountain has come down wiping out everything in its path.

One of the viaducts.

The train stops after exiting the longest tunnel on the run. The train stops at Arthur's Pass to take on two locomotives before entering the tunnel and stops in Otira to remove them.

 

Waiting for permission to continue from Otira.

Another massive landslide.

The train is followed by a three-hour bus ride south to Franz Josef at the foot of a glacier. Along the way we pass through the small town where an Australian landed after the first crossing of the Tasman in a single engine aircraft.

We pass through the places of a gold rush of years past.

The Scenic brand hotel is clean but nothing special. Dinner is horrible. It is a buffet where the best thing on the buffet is the chocolate dessert. Fortunately, the next two evenings we are in Queenstown and are on our own for dinner. We already have bookings at two very good restaurants.