Caboose

On Friday a couple of us were picked up from the hostel in Christchurch and taken to the station to catch the TranzAlpine train across the Alps to Greymouth.

Once I’d checked in and dropped my bags off at the luggage van I took a few pictures of the train and found my seat. The carriages are fairly comfortable, with nice big windows. During the journey the train manager gave a commentary pointing out various scenic or interesting things. In the middle of the train is an open observation car, this was crowded with the “my DSLR is bigger than yours” crowd determined to photograph everything — none of them with the manners to let other people take a turn. We were allowed to get off and stretch our legs at a couple of stations, including Arthurs Pass (below).

Once we arrived in Greymouth I put on my rucksack and trudged along to the Neptune’s International Backpackers. It’s a old hotel restored as a hostel, quite comfortable and with really good hot showers.

In the evening I joined a tour of the Monteiths brewery, along with lots of other people from the Magic bus and the Australians I’d met on the train (Cal, Claire and Simone). The brewery tour was good, with a tasting afterwards and the opportunity to pour our own beers while we waited for the minibus to take us for the included barbecue at a nearby pub.

The next morning I got up early to beat the rush for the shower, only to find that there wasn’t a rush. Eventually the others got up and the bus appeared outside to collect us. Driver Scotty provided music and occasional commentary as he drove us down to Franz Josef, with occasional stops along the way. My favourite was the Bushmans Center in Pukekura, with Bushman Pete explaining about his former work in capturing deer by leaping on them from helicopters and doing everything he could to upset vegetarians. I was feeling hungry so bought one of his (very tasty) possum pies.

Once we reached Franz Josef the bus dropped us at our hostels and people headed off for various activities — mostly glacier hikes. My budget doesn’t really allow for many organised activities and I’ve spent plenty of time wandering about on ice anyway. Instead I booked all the remaining accommodation for my time in New Zealand and then went for a walk around the foot of the glacier.

By the way, there are more pictures than I’ve included here. You can browse through the rest here.

I’m now in Queenstown and am having a day of doing laundry, trying not to spend money and taking advantage of cheap internet access.

While I was in Auckland I spent a while trying to work out what to do in New Zealand. I thought about hiring a car but for one person it’s just too expensive. Instead I booked myself onto the Magic bus, one of several hop-on-hop-off bus operators. As I was keen to take the TranzAlpine train I chose a route starting in Christchurch. A quick look on the internet revealed that the cheapest way to get there was to fly, I got a ticket with Qantas for NZD 79.

So on Tuesday evening I took the bus out to Auckland airport and flew to Christchurch. I’d booked ahead at Dorset House backpackers, which is probably the nicest hostel I’ve stayed in. It has a well-equipped kitchen, nice rooms, no bunk beds and just gives the impression that the owners care about the place.

Christchurch is a pleasant city, far fewer tall buildings than Auckland and I preferred the atmosphere. There’s even a free shuttle bus around the centre. I couldn’t resist going out to the International Antarctic Centre, which was (perhaps predictably) a disappointment. It really only contains two things, a cold room (-5°C) where they occasionally turn on some fans to simulate an antarctic storm and some penguins. The storm is nothing like the real thing, no reduction in visibility and not enough wind. The whole centre is also very biased towards New Zealand and American antarctic activities, in fact many of the maps show only the Ross Sea side of the continent. I can think of a lot of better ways to spend NZD 30.

On Thursday I went for a walk in the Port Hills to the south of Christchurch, walking up from the end of the bus line to the Sign of the Kiwi resthouse — where I stopped for coffee and scones — then along the hills past the top station of the gondola and down into Lyttelton. The wind up on the hills was fierce, on occasions knocking me sideways. Lyttelton has a small museum with a fairly random selection of exhibits and the town’s history as the departure point for many of the antarctic expeditions of the heroic age is represented by a separate section. In the evening I joined Bao and Toivo (not sure if I spelled that right) from the hostel for beer and pizza in a huge (and empty) sports bar called the Holy Grail.