The Tranz Alpine and Arthur's Pass

Most of NZ's rail lines are freight only these days, but the Tranz Alpine, which crosses the South Island from Christchurch to Greymouth still has a daily passenger service. Trains of 30 wagons or more take coal from the west coast to the port of Lyttleton on the east to be shipped to Japan! First stop was Springfield with a view of the mountains ahead:


Big windows, open viewing platform and running commentary add to the spectacular scenery as we journeyed up the Waimakariri River:

Once up in the mountains there are meadows, farms and lakes. NZ's biggest sheep station of 50,000 hectares is here:

On the trip down to Greymouth we passed through an area of rata trees with their red blossoms - very good for honey:

But before that at the tiny village of Arthur's Pass (pop. 50 and alt. 737m) I got off the train...

Some of the little cottages here were built for men working on the railway a 100 years ago:

Before the Otira tunnel was completed passengers had to disembark from the train and take the old coach to the train on the other side:

WWI interrupted construction but it was finally opened in 1923 at 5.3 miles long - when the tunnellers from both sides met up they were only an inch out!

The village has some nice walks including the Devil's Punchbowl. The 131m falls were known to the Maori as the weaving waters as they ressembled dressed flax and were named for Hinekakai a famous weaver:


Maori hunting parties had been using this pass long before Arthur Dudley Dobson 'found' his way through to the west from the Waimakiriri. Other locals included the kea, a member of the parrot family. They are rated as amongst the most intelligent of birds and will unzip rucksack pockets, steal the laces from your boots and eat the rubber off your windscreen wipers! Visitors are under strict instructions not to feed them. This painting was in the lovely youth hostel:
In the D.O.C. (Department of Conservation) visitor centre I was advised to avoid the Goat Pass tramp I had planned to walk as it is part of the Coast to Coast challenge route in mid Feb and participants would be in training - running along the mountain path, so not very relaxing for walkers! 243kms of running, cycling and kayaking with the winners taking under 11 hours! I chose instead the 3 day Edwards-Hawdon circuit, collected a map, hired a personal locator beacon and set off...