To the South Island

Loading photos into this blog is causing Peter extreme grief so he is doing it a small instalment at a time so that when it crashes, as it often does, he hasn't wasted an entire day. If the following extract makes even less sense than usual you may have missed an instalment or two so best to check where you last left off and start from there

Great Train Rides

New Zealand trains are a bit like Australian ones. Apart from some suburban lines, the trains cannot compete with domestic airlines and run one service per day targeted mainly at pensioners and tourists. To this end, the trains include a panoramic lounge at the rear and an outdoor viewing platform. Unfortunately it was our first cloudy and rainy day since records began – or at least within living memory, which in our case is increasingly short term. So, passing through the National Park we saw the foothills of several allegedly impressive mountains before steaming into Wellington. The rail system is also unusual in that it is narrow gauge, making for a rather wobbly ride. Also, the line is partially electrified so that we had to stop and change engines every now and again. This event was watched eagerly by half the passengers (well, the men anyway) which suggests that the trip is listed in “Great Train Rides of the Southern Hemisphere” and attracts ageing train-spotters from around the world.

Wellington

Emboldened by our stay at Sydney YHA, we had booked in at a backpackers hostel just across from the station. Although a little faded it was clean and comfy and as good as any Travelodge in terms of space and facilities and included a cheap restaurant. And only 37 dollars each so this is definitely something we will try again. Our trip is getting more and more like a belated gap year.

Another early start to get the shuttle bus down to the harbour and on to the ferry for a 3-hour trip across the Cook Straits to Picton on the South Island. The last hour or so is spent weaving through the Marlborough Sound, a bit like a Norwegian fjord or the entrance to Vancouver Island. By then the cloud had lifted and we disembarked to a lovely sunny day, with an hour or so to buy a picnic lunch and enjoy it in the gardens overlooking the harbour before boarding the train to Christchurch.

Picton is know for its sunny climate but by the time we had climbed out of the town and through Blenheim the cloud has come down again. This was a shame as the track follows the coastline through some spectacular scenery and, in anticipation of this, they provided an entire carriage with open sides for viewing but as the temperature had dropped noticeably it was virtually empty. As it turned out we were to re-visit the route days later by car so it wasn’t a complete wash-out.

North of the South Island

In Christchurch Hugh was there to meet us and we drove back to his house for a final planning session for the next stage of our trip.

Hugh has long established family roots in the north of the South Island and also spent many years as teacher and headmaster in various small rural schools. As a result we found that if Hugh wasn’t related to someone we met then he had probably taught them at some stage (a sort of Hugh's Who of New Zealand). If neither, then they were probably a foreign tourist. This added a unique and fascinating dimension to our journey though we also managed to sample many of the more usual tourist attractions. As you will hear in our next instalment.