TranzAlpine

Wednesday we boarded the TranzAlpine train in Christchurch to take the scenic rail across the South Island to the west coast town of Greymouth for an overnight visit. We left our car in Christchurch, where we will take the train back to on Thursday to continue south. The train ride was 4 1/2 hours of wonderful scenery. We crossed the canterbury plains and then went thru the southern alps. We crossed thru Arthur's Pass, a tiny township 2400 feet above sea level. We traveled thru the 5.3 mile long Otira tunnel, completed in 1923, that descends 820 feet. The

mountains were beautiful, however I'm sure in the winter with the snow it is breathtaking. Once we arrived in Greymouth, we walked around the small town for a couple hours, then rented a car for the day to do some exploring. We drove a bit north to Punakaiki, home of the pancake rocks. The pancake rocks are an area of eroded limestone on the oceans edge, that over time has made the rocks appear to be stacks of pancakes. They are actually pretty interesting to look at and were a popular spot. There are tons of stacks of pancakes, some even forming blowholes in the Tasman Sea. Unfortunately the tide wasn't high enough while we were there to force water thru the blowholes, but it was still a super cool spot. After the pancakes we went on a short hike along the Poraran River, then drove back to Greymouth.