After a thoroughly enjoyable week in Christchurch, it’s time to leave the city and head for the country. For me, this means travelling across New Zealand’s South Island to the town of Greymouth, named for the mouth of the Grey River as it empties into the Tasman Sea along New Zealand’s West Coast.

There are two ways to get from Christchurch to Greymouth ~ by road or by rail. I have done both and each is spectacular. Still, I am on my own this trip and don’t have the luxury of being able to afford a rental car so it’s the railroad for me.

For many people travelling between Christchurch and Greymouth, the train, now known as The Tranz Alpine, is the first choice. It follows an extremely scenic route, traversing the northern part of the Southern Alps and cresting at Arthur’s Pass National Park before descending through alpine tussock and lush rainforest into Greymouth. A brochure claims it is rated one of the top six train journeys in the world.

This was to be my third ride on this train and I was anxious to reacquaint myself with it. I last rode it in 1987 when it was operated by New Zealand Railways and called The Trans Alpine. In the late 1980s, NZR opted to divest itself of its passenger operations and focus on freight. Today, all passenger train service in New Zealand is operated by Tranz Scenic, an Australian owned company. As such, the Christchurch-Greymouth service is now known as The Tranz Alpine - with a "z".

Back in 1987, the train was a simple collection of older red coaches offering single class spartan accommodations in straight-backed, non-reclining coach seats. There was no food service available aboard the train. Meal stops were made at select stations. Anyone wanting to eat would disembark and hurry over to the small food kiosk in the station. Foods offered were the usual Kiwi fast food fare – a variety of skinny sandwiches, pasties, sausage rolls, mince pies and cakes. I remember being very impressed by the ladies who worked these kiosks. Far from being overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of passengers who descended upon them, they were more than up to the task of preparing, heating and bagging meals with speed and aplomb, all the while maintaining a cheerful persona and doling out correct change.

Today’s passengers enjoy substantially improved service. Coaches have been renovated with improved seating and larger windows. A buffet car is now available offering a variety of hot and cold foods to go. Travel is marketed as either one way transport or as a round trip full day excursion to Greymouth or Arthur’s Pass and back. Whereas years ago ridership was comprised primarily of locals and backpackers, today the train carries mainly tourists travelling individually or in groups. My trip today included at least five different busloads of groups travelling on package tours.

A free shuttle service collects riders from all the main Christchurch hostels and delivers them straight to the railway station. This is good because the old station, located in town, is no longer used. It’s been replaced by a new building on the outskirts of town. Like most new train stations, this building is architecturally bland, the design focusing on function rather than beauty.

Tranz Scenic did not offer seat reservations at the time of booking so upon arrival at the station we were required to queue up at a small podium where a conductor checked our tickets and told us which seats we’d been pre-assigned. I had ridden over from the hostel with a nice young lady from England and we had hoped to sit together for the journey but were told the train was sold out and seating changes could not be made. I thought this rather odd by modern day standards but with a long line behind us this was no time to argue the point. We accepted our seat assignments in separate cars and planned to meet up on the open-air observation car. The train was already in the station and we next walked down to the baggage car at the rear of the train and checked our packs.

The train was made up of twelve greyish blue cars: nine coaches, one buffet/coach, one open-air observation car and one baggage car. A single diesel engine was all that was required to get us over Arthur’s Pass and into Greymouth. I bought a coffee and a paper and headed back out to the train.

There were two types of seating available in the coaches. One offered all buffet style seating featuring two pairs of seats facing each other with a table in between. The other offered more traditional seating in rows of 2X2 with buffet seating at each end. I was assigned seat 1H, a window in the buffet style car. Since it was the first row by the off center doorway, there were only three seats – one by the door and two on the other side of the table. My seatmates had already boarded, one of them a guy from Israel on a three month holiday through Australia and New Zealand, the other a very nice but very quiet Japanese girl on a seven month holiday/work visa in New Zealand. Aron, the Israeli guy, had traveled widely through Asia and America prior to coming here. The Japanese girl, who’s name I cannot spell much less pronounce properly, (but it sounded beautiful when she said it) had last worked as a house painter and was taking some time to see the north part of the South Island.

The table between us had individual headphone jacks installed for either music or ongoing commentary about the route. Out of curiosity, I tested them out midway through the journey but they either didn’t work or the system wasn’t turned on. Though the seats were described in promotional materials as “spacious and comfortable”, they were no wider than your average bus seat and did not recline. There was, however, a fold down armrest! The luggage rack above us was more decorative than functional. It was designed for hats and jackets, not daypacks and certainly not the roll ons that fully half today’s air travelers in America seem to own. I was forced to keep my day pack either in my lap or between my feet. From my perspective of a window seat, the most noticeable improvement was the window itself. It was huge! The old windows were small – maybe 20” tall. These windows were a good 3 ½’ by 6’ and afforded excellent views of not only the scenery alongside you but the mountains above as well.

Departure was scheduled for 9:00am and just a couple of minutes before then the last call for boarding rang out. Unlike American railroads with their famous “All aboard!” calls, in New Zealand a whistle is blown. Experienced regular riders know to quickly stop what they’re doing, which is usually smoking a cigarette, and get aboard. At precisely 9:00am by my watch, we felt the first jolt as the engine powered up and slowly pulled us from the station.

The first hour traveling west out of Christchurch took us through the rolling farmland of the Canterbury Plains. Based upon the architecture of the farmhouses, the rock walls and the cloudy skies, if you didn’t know better you’d think that you were in England. The setting was truly bucolic and as we rolled along at about 50 mph I got a kick out of seeing flock after flock of sheep rousted out of their torpor as we passed by. As animals go, sheep have to be amongst the dumbest. The train goes by every day at this time and probably has never derailed down here in the flats. Still, the sheep never fail to turn tail and run for their lives. Cattle on the other hand barely seem to notice our passing.

After passing through the small towns of Rolleston and Springfield, we began a steady climb up through lush beech forests towards Arthur’s Pass. We passed over numerous bridges or viaducts as they are called here. One of the most impressive of these spans the Waimakariri Gorge. The Waimakariri River is the first of many glacially fed rivers that the train crosses and the gorge is indeed as spectacular as it is deep. Throughout our journey the conductor used the PA to offer a running commentary on the history of the land and the railroad, much of which was built in the 1870s and 80s. One of the viaducts took two years to build. In testament to how rough the weather could get here, the conductor pointed out how a couple of viaducts had been destroyed – one by flooding when it rained 12” in one night and the other when it blew down one evening in a fierce northeasterly gale. I took a stroll back to join my English friend and together we made our way back to the observation car but found it to be jam packed so we returned to our seats. This was perhaps just as well since we were beginning to encounter the first of the 19 tunnels along the route. While most of these tunnels are fairly short, some are longer and when passing through them the outside air became quite thick with diesel exhaust.

We arrived at the township of Arthur’s Pass right on time at 11:27am. Arthur’s Pass National Park offers some good hiking or “tramping” as it’s known here so there are always a few backpackers offloading. More than a few day-trippers get off here as well. The return train comes through at 4:30pm allowing them five hours to take in the scenery and the maybe get in a short hike. The train spent about ten minutes in the station and all the smokers hurried off, grateful for a chance to attend to their addictions. As a former smoker, I miss a good smoke but not the anxiety of having to wait for that next station stop or airport.

From Arthur’s Pass, it’s all downhill through alpine tussocks and beech forest. First however, we entered the 5.8 mile long Otira Tunnel. It took six years to build and about eight minutes to transit.

By now it was past noon and I decided to check out the offerings in the buffet car. With the favorable exchange rate for the US Dollar, the prices were more than reasonable and I ordered a Fettucini Napolitana for $6.50NZD or about $3.10USD. It was served piping hot in a Tupperware like container. Also for sale were a chicken curry, a calzone, and a variety of sandwiches and beverages including beer and wine. There are no tables available for sitting in the buffet car – all food is designed for take away.

I chatted with the two buffet employees about the train and its history for a bit before returning with my meal to my seat. My seatmates, upon seeing my meal, decided to go out and get some themselves. The fettucine was pretty tasty, too. All that was missing was Parmesan cheese and garlic bread.

The final hour of the trip was spent descending through forested area before hitting the coastal plain and following alongside the Grey River to its terminus in the town of Greymouth. The arrival time is conveniently coordinated with busses that take you north to Westport and Nelson or south towards Hokitika, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. The busses share the train station so the connections are simple and fast. Baggage collection is another matter however. All the bags and backpacks are placed out in a narrow area beside the baggage car and everyone just sort of wades amongst all the bags to find and retrieve theirs.

In all, the journey covers 231 km and takes four and one half hours. It costs $87.00 NZD but if you plan ahead you can get a one way ticket through to Greymouth for as little as $61.00. Bookings can be made locally or in advance over the internet at http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz. Whether you’re a train fan or just out for a scenic and relaxing alternative to driving between Christchurch and Greymouth, I highly recommend this trip!

NOTE: I took this train a few days ago. It took me this long to find a computer that would also support Word97 out here on the Northwest Coast. I found this computer in the Information Center for the little town of Karamea, gateway to the Heaphy Track. The Heaphy is a good tramp and not nearly as over run with tourists as the Abel Tasman, Milford, or Routeburn tracks.

[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 02-17-2002).]