TransAlpine to Christchurch

Trip Start Feb 25, 2007
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Trip End Aug 25, 2007


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Flag of New Zealand  , South Island,
Saturday, July 5, 2008

We had another early start and were on a bus to Greymouth by 10am. The rain was pretty heavy but still a pretty scenic ride and a good stop at a roadside cafe for a pie, there are pies everywhere in NZ, they love them.
We had heard that the transalpine railway was a great way to get back to Christchurch, although a bit more expensive than the bus, much more interesting. It was pretty awesome, the railway itself cuts right through the mountains and the views were awesome, there was a viewing carriage in the open air, which was freezing but wicked. At the highest point, Arthurs pass (737m, above sea level) we got out and were in the middle of a snowy mountain range, very chilly.
We arrived in Chirstchurch and conveniently a man running a shuttle bus had 2 spaces, it was latish at night and apparently no public buses run from the train station. We got dropped at a hostel we had found a leaflet for, which turned out to be closed, so we ended up walking around for a while and checked into a different one.
We had a day in Christchurch and checked out the Antarctic Centre - a kind of interactive museum thingy, right next to the actual Antarctic Program Buildings for New Zealand and the United States. It was a pretty awesome attraction actually, they have a storm room, full of actual snow, where they create an artificial storm with wind machines and cold air blowers, it got to -18 degrees, pretty nippy. They had a load of penguins which were good fun too and we got to ride in a Hagglund, a tracked all terrain carrier used in the Antarctic, the driver (an old boy called Barry who had actually driven one in on the Antarctic) took us over an extreme course of bumps and lakes and stuff.
Food is so much more expensive here, even in the supermarkets, just stuff like fresh fruit and veg is so much, starting to live off canned food and sliced bread.
We couldn't be bothered to pay for a night's accomodation before our flight (6am) to Aus, so set off to the airport and slept there until we could check in, it was pretty comfy and there were a few other travellers with their sleeping bags out when we got there.
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