Did I mention that I'm engaged? Engaged to Sha Sha!! :) We woke very early on the second day of our holiday (ridiculously early given the time difference between Sydney and Christchurch). It was raining hard. We checked out of the hotel, gave Gary a final stroke and jumped into a taxi to the train station. We got on the TranzAlpine which goes from Christchurch on the Pacific ocean to Greymouth on the Tasman. Between the two towns the train crosses the spectacular Southern Alps and then through the rain forest. It's wonderful. The rain stopped somewhere high in the mountains and we went through some patches of snow. However, the sky suddenly cleared and we had incredible views of the snow covered mountains. (We discovered later that a huge snow storm was following us which completely blocked the roads.)
The guard on the train provided a running commentary. He had been working on the New Zealand trains for the last 40 years or so and was sad to see the end of the steam locomotives. Apparently they had a job getting up the mountains, but the diesel trains are even worse because they overheat in the tunnels.
On arrival in Greymouth we picked up the keys for our hire car, discovered that all the roads were under thick snow and so went to have a huge lunch in the local pub. In the afternoon we drove North along the coast trying to find a way back through the mountains!
2 comments:
Such a great trip, very spectacular view, on the way drive, jiao zi always said" look at the view"~~ I was surprised that such a big country whithout much populations!! but this country doesn't like possums, they are lovely creatures! oh, jiao zi said that I ate too much lol, I 'd better on a diet~ :P
thats sha not jia zi~
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