New Zealand Train Trip South Island "The TranzCoastal"

Please be sure to check out my photos taken from this day on Flickr (does not include the photos I took of the Christchurch Streetcars, Wellington Cable Car, Sydney CityLink, or the Katoomba's Scenic World Blue Mountains, Australia World's Steepest Railway; obviously, as I stated in the video, those were all taken on different days): http://www.flickr.com/photos/greatestpictures/sets/72157625076989634/
Check out all of my other New Zealand & Australia Trip Pictures here please: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greatestpictures/collections/72157624784222572/

The TranzCoastal Passsenger train is a passenger train which runs between the small town of Picton (located on the north tip of the South Island) and Christchurch (the 2nd largest city in New Zealand, located on the east coast of the South Island. The train runs daily and has a snack car, an observation car with a roof, and nice passenger cars as well. The train runs much faster between Christchurch and Picton than its North Island cousin "The Overlander" runs, despite the distances of the two being approximately the same. The main reason for this is because this train only has 6 stops between Picton and Christchurch. The train runs north-south along the entirely single-track line, and does not have any electrification, so the entire trip is pulled by a diesel locomotive. It runs right along the shoreline, with the Southern Alps jutting up into the sky on the west side of you, while the ocean surf is slamming against the rocky shore on the east side. It is a wonderful combination. There are many tunnels which we passed through along this route, although not really many viaducts. The cloud formations which form over both the ocean and the mountains make for an absolutely spectacular journey, no matter what the weather is like. The scenery is absolutely amazing and you are in for some good photo-ops and will likely see sea lions on the shore along the way. This was taken on June 20, 2010 on the South Island of New Zealand, and showcases my personal experience that I had on this wonderful train ride. :)

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• New
• Zealand
• Train
• Trip
• South
• Island