The TranzCoastal

I love travelling by train, so I jumped at the chance to swap a bus journey for one on the TranzCoastal. This is one of 3 long distance train routes in New Zealand, running from Christchurch along the eastern coast of the South Island through Kaikoura and terminating at Picton. There is a buffet car on board, as well as a open air viewing platform for keen photographers. 

The train wasn't completely full, so after waiting a decent interval I moved across to a window seat on the coastal side of the train. Soon after we left Kaikoura came the exciting announcement that there were fur seals on the rocks about 10 minutes further up the line. It was quite hard to spot them at first as when motionless, they blend seamlessly into the landscape, then suddenly you could see them everywhere! Definitely a highlight of the trip.

At the outset, we had been warned that the train would stop quite a few times between stations - often to wait for a train to pass in the opposite direction. However, after it started to rain very heavily, we seemed to stop quite often for "points". We later discovered that the storm had caused a power outage, which mean that the poor driver had had to get down from the train and change the points manually! It also meant that the train was running about 40 minutes behind schedule, much to the consternation of those trying to catch the 1.10pm Interislander ferry from Picton to Wellington (in the end they managed to persuade the ferry company to delay departure for a few minutes).

I was staying in Picton for a couple of nights, so I trudged in the rain to my hostel which was thankfully not too far away. It was far too wet to go on a cruise in the Queen Charlotte Sound, or take the resident hostel Labrador for a walk. Instead I popped round the corner to Gusto and lunched on the local speciality – greenlipped mussels, which were huge (the meat was about the length of my thumb, and the inside of the shell had a beautiful iridescent sheen). It was still raining when I left, and the next door pub had the inviting words: “Open + Warm!” chalked up on the board outside, followed by an ice cream shop with the notice in the window: “Open on sunny days”.

I spent some time in the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum, which houses the remains of the last surviving ship to carry convicts from England to Australia, and migrants to New Zealand. The Edwin Fox also saw action in the Crimean War, transporting troops. You can walk onto the ship itself – there is a tiny bit of deck left – and then walk down some stairs into the hold where the teak ribs are exposed. It’s hard to imagine how cramped this ship would have been for the 200+ people on their 3-4 month journey to the other side of the world.

My day ended with me doing a load of laundry in the hostel. It was like being back at uni again, only instead of stuffing laundry into plastic bags, there was a stack of gaily coloured washing baskets for people to borrow. Very handy!