| NEW ZEALAND- December 2004 |
| Claire Rosemary Jane, Children's Author |
| Visit to New Zealand |
| Tsunami New Zealand homepage New Zealand Index page Towns and Cities: Auckland Wellington Christchurch Invercargill Nelson Picton Greymouth Queenstown Napier Gisborne Taupo Rotorua Paihia Specific Excursions: Franz Joseph glacier. Stewart Island Ulva island Southern Alps Tongariro Crossing Cape Reinga Christmas Day in Rotorua Travelling Currency. |
| I reserved one whole day (Thursday December 16th) to travel across the Southern Alps via the Arthur's Pass route. I travelled west on the Coast to Coast coach route It was a great privilege to be able to sit right up in the front of the coach alongside our driver who that day was none other than Paul Kane, Director of the firm, a most interesting and knowledgeable man, and be given such an insight into the journey, the scenery, and the geology of the area by Paul, for on the journey we crossed the point at which the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate abut one another. Few people could have known at this time that it would be the shifting of the Indo-Australian plate which would cause the earthquake and subsequent Tsunami only some 10 days later on December 26th. We stopped here and there for Paul to point out various points of interest, before descending into Greymouth, where I sat and ate lunch by the riverside before returning to the railway station to catch the eastbound TranzAlpine train back to Christchurch. If the westbound coach journey over the mountain and through Arthur's Pass had been spectacular, the eastbound rail journey was even more so. Climbing steadily towards Lake Brunner, the railway initially takes quite a different route to that taken by road. The climb continues steadily until Otira tunnel is reached, at which point those who have been riding on the observation platform have to come in for their own safety, because in a tunnel of this length, the fumes from the diesel engines quickly fill the tunnel bore. Once out at the eastern end of the tunnel the train stopped briefly at Otira, before making the long descent back down towards Christchurch. The route of the railway along this stretch is in a distinctly different part of the countryside to that taken by the road, and clings here and there to the edge of the deep Waimakariri Gorge. All along this route are a series of short tunnels and high viaducts, and the scenery is spectacular. By the time Sheffield is reached, the train is back down on the plain, across which we were treated to a fast run back into Christchurch. Just two final notes. Firstly, both road and rail routes have spectacular scenery and should be considered a must for any visitor to New Zealand. And secondly, the food on New Zealand trains is good, rather better in my opinion than the snack food on both its British and American counterparts. |
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| Southern Alps. |
| My main website is at http://clairerosemaryjane.co.uk |