Ogling the Scenic Tranzalpine Crossing

Partway through our drive down the West coast, we headed inland on highway 73 to cover a route through the Southern Alps that has been much admired for its scenery. There is an option to do this as a train ride from Greymouth to Christchurch, but we opted to drive the first section and then catch the train from Arthur’s Pass, the highest alpine town in NZ*.

We were able to follow the train route pretty closely via car, following signs marking the “tourist drive”. This took us along a river, through some farms and ranches and by Lake Brunner next to the town of Moana. We decided to stop for the night at Jacksons Holiday Park, where we hired (kiwi for rented) a tent under a roof for the night (yes, it was still raining). On our host’s recommendation, we went for a bush walk up to a waterfall and did some recky (kiwi for reconnaissance) for a night walk to see glow worms by the creek. After dark, we went back into the bush with red cellophane over our headlamp. We found an amazing wall and overhang near the creek that was full of glow worms, getting an awesome, private and unlimited glow worm experience. We were hoping to also see a kiwi on our walk (they’re nocturnal), but only managed to catch a possum in a staring contest for a bit.

The next day we continued to Arthur’s Pass, getting to see a tricky piece of the motorway that the train doesn’t cover – Death’s Corner. In the afternoon, we boarded the train, the rain stopped and the clouds lifted, and we got some stunning alpine views. Closer to Christchurch we caught glimpses of the beautifully blue-green Waimakariri river. We spent a quick night in Christchurch with only enough time for dinner and some live music (we’ll be back!) and then headed back on the train the next morning. We spent most of the train ride this time in the outdoor standing car, which gave some fun new views of the scenery. Back in Arthur’s Pass, we found trusty Wyatt where we had left him, and headed back to the West coast!

Full disclosure – we have completely fallen to the dark side of taking photos from moving vehicles. You will see many below and in the future; please forgive us, we’re just so excited about the beautiful scenery.

*please fact check