2 DAYS Across NEW ZEALAND by Train

welcome on board the most scenic trains in the world Crossing New Zealand by rail from mountains to rivers to Oceans to we'll see all that and more in this 24-hour rail Adventure hello jet Setters right now we're on New Zealand's stunning South Island about to embark on one of the world's greatest rail journeys let's get on board here's our plan we'll start on the trans Alpine we'll leave the town of Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island just after 2 pm travel about 150 miles to Christchurch where we'll pull into the station just before 7 PM we'll spend a night there before leaving again on the coastal Pacific at 7am where we'll travel about 190 miles up to Blenheim we should finish our journey just after noon the South Island may only have 23 percent of New Zealand's people but it offers some of the country's best scenery we expect the train here in about 30 minutes and then we'll uh we'll make our way over to Christchurch after checking our larger bags we carried our backpacks on board we took a stroll across the street to walk along the river Greymouth gets its name from the gray river which is where our journey starts today now if you ask me it looks more Brown than gray but they didn't ask me suddenly the train appeared this one's huge too with two engines a baggage car a cafe five passenger coaches not to mention the open air observation car there's a lot to explore we were booked into seats 4D and 4C in coach a this was the very front of the contest now seats can be pre-booked and on this leg we highly recommend calling to confirm you're on the left side of the train when traveling East like us the views are incredible on both sides but the left is slightly better oh and the USB power available at each seat is a lifesaver good to be on board I guess we're pulling out of here in just a couple of minutes Springfield Darfield rolleston in Christchurch on our way now the first mountains we spotted were the papora range just outside of Greymouth a mere Taste of what's to come seems undisturbed by us how many sheep you think we'll see today [Music] we're crossing New Zealand's South Island at its narrowest Point covering just under a 150 miles today [Music] now if you're interested in learning along the way you'll have headphones for a running commentary that plays if you're less interested in the facts and more interested in the food you'll also find a menu at each seat for a closer look at this and the menu for tomorrow's train head over to greenergrass.com menus now long distance passenger rail trips like this winter largely limited to tourist experiences here in New Zealand these days rail travel was once extremely common here but that's simply no longer the case although Freight is still carried by rail throughout the country keep watching to find out how to book this trip for yourself this is the first of 16 tunnels with pass-through we left the gray river behind and this is the Arnold the running commentary was a nice addition to our experience but I was glad to be able to unplug it whenever I wanted it could at times be overwhelming there are only so many scientific plant names I can remember in one day Suzanne was digging it though I think her tea may have helped [Music] Suzanne's tea I think might have inspired me to go find something of my own and this was a really good time to go to the cafe the scenery was about to get really really good on my way I checked out the toilet on board it was tremendous and clean the cafe car offered a variety of seating to passengers who bought something to eat and there was plenty on offer everything from Ice Cream to full meals which the crew would eat for you along with pies although Unfortunately they did run out fairly early in the trip there were also a range of drinks available I made my way back to our seats with some chips also known as crisps and a bottle of gin and tonic as far as I know we do not have pre-packaged gin and tonics in the state so this is a pretty exciting a new experience for me and one I can recommend camera woman approved as full as the train was our section was rather lightly loaded which was nice to be able to take full advantage of the views across the coach and that was a really good thing as we began climbing up into the Southern Alps do these mountains take their names from the European Alps and or the main dividing line for the South Island rivers on this side flow to the Tasman Sea and once we reach Arthur's pass rivers on the east side flow into the Pacific Ocean [Music] the west coast of New Zealand is a rainforest and that was pretty obvious in our trip through but traveling by rail through weather is always a cozy experience we'd reached otira just in front of the massive tunnel of the same name here kiwi rail Engineers will add two more engines to the train in order to get us through we'll climb more than 820 feet in just over five miles inside this tunnel we've reached about 1200 feet now this is also a place with 5 meters or 200 inches of rain a year this is uh not a place I want to spend much time but I guess we'll be here for a couple of minutes at least that rain may be why the population of this town hovers around 45. back to this tunnel it's extremely steep so we need this extra power to get through it construction began on the tunnel in 1907 but it wasn't finished until 1923. there were some other things going on in the world at the time when it finally did open it was the seventh longest in the British Empire but today it isn't even in the top 100 in the world on the other side we'd reached Arthur's pass at about 2 400 feet above sea level it's a real highlight of this trip nice to get a little stretch break here at Arthur's pass where I think the highest point on this trade Journey just got out of the the tunnel and able to stretch our looks for about five minutes is a fast stop so gotta make the most of it [Music] foreign [Music] despite the cold we headed back to the open air car at the end of the train we weren't the only ones with this idea we were richly rewarded with breathtaking views of the Southern Alps [Music] how great is this open-air car everybody's loving it I'm right there with them [Music] there are a couple of key rules here like don't lean over the railings no selfie sticks my only question why didn't we come back here sooner [Music] once we'd completely Frozen we made our way back to our seats in order to thaw out and we arrived just in time to experience more of this incredible 19th century engineering from the comfort of these 21st century coaches [Music] we'll pass through 15 more tunnels in four major viaducts today [Music] just on the other side of the next tunnel we'll cross that the most impressive part of this whole journey at least in my opinion this is the staircase Viaduct which is 246 feet high it opened in 1906 and was one of the most challenging aspects of building this railroad this view offers perhaps the clearest sense of the scope and scale of this engineering masterpiece it just goes to show the Ingenuity of the people who built this in the late 19th and early 20th century [Music] we had planned to grab a bite on the train today but unfortunately the line was really long and also they seem to be sold out of most of the meals so I guess we're just glad to wait till Christ Church to grab a bite thankfully we didn't have to wait too long we'd reached the halfway mark of this trip Christchurch the South Island's largest city but we wouldn't stay here long we had another train to catch first thing in the morning and tomorrow's views from the coastal Pacific would be equal to if not slightly better than what we saw today we pulled into the station collected our bags for a brief overnight here that absolutely lived up to the hype what an incredible rail journey but we're only halfway done you see we'll be right back here tomorrow morning to pick up the coastal Pacific but for now we gotta grab a quick bite to eat and some sleep and then we'll head back here to take the train to Blenheim early the next morning we headed back to the station our train was scheduled to leave at 7 A.M and just like that we're right back here it's time to head north from the coastal Pacific we re-checked our bags and headed outside to see the train beautiful day for a train journey no doubt about that and things are shaping up to be a little bit more chill than yesterday there are fewer people here only two passenger cars on this contest so it should be a little bit more of a low-key Journey up the coast all the way to Blenheim for us the best part of this train has got to be this open-air observation car at the back we couldn't wait to get back in there today for the coastal views we boarded up this time we'd requested seats on the right side of the train to maximize those Coastal views again we had to make the request by phone but it was honored [Applause] [Music] looks like everybody got the memo the right side is the best side for this train we decided to make our way straight to the cafe this morning since we hadn't yet had breakfast we were grateful it was open even before we left the station especially because the coffee was flowing we haven't even left yet I already have my coffee I'm not gonna complain about that we pulled out right on time in addition to a muffin and a scone we also picked up a cheese plate which made for a little bit of entertainment as we made our way out of Christchurch with two award-winning cheeses in our cheese plate we're gonna do a little bit of a taste test cheese a sharp a little creamy very smooth cheesy Rich also smooth with a sharp bite the Jeb score award-winning cheese of the trip is cheese B by the way for my tasting notes I just I just read the packaging no reason of hiding Secrets here we continued our northeasterly journey toward the coast passing through towns like Amberly [Music] before long though we encountered one of New Zealand's most famous exports grapes this part of the south island waipara is famous for making some of the world's most sought after wine [Music] we decided to make our way back to the observation club which was completely empty well what do you know we're a sheep today [Music] I can't believe we have this whole place to ourselves this is crazy [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] we headed back inside to warm up Suzanne was feeling a little tired after two days on trains and finally decided to investigate the view of the backs of her eyelids at least for a little bit [Music] these braided rivers are found only in three places in the world Alaska the Himalayas and here in New Zealand they're created when water and gravel meat thanks in large part to glacial activity they are unpredictable and beautiful [Music] suddenly the Pacific Ocean appeared and I quickly ran back outside for the next 62 miles or so we'd be traveling right along the coastline here thanks to the convergence of ocean currents from the tropics and Antarctica Plankton thrives providing tons of food that fuels large populations of seals whales and other sea mammals this part of the trip reminded us of Amtrak's Coast Starlight in California that trip also hugs the Pacific coast but on the other side unlike the coast Starlight though there are numerous tunnels through this section which were a lot of fun to experience from inside the observation car this car really does make the journey now we booked these tickets directly on the great journeys of New Zealand website like all of our videos this one is in no way sponsored but I'll put a link to their website Below in case you'd like to book it that'll give you the latest information on their schedules and pricing as always that's the best source for accurate information Earth's crust is made up of a bunch of interconnected plates that are constantly moving between each other here in New Zealand two of them the Pacific Plate and the Australian plate are running into each other this makes this country one of the most geologically unstable places on Earth translated into our trip it means kiwi rail who operates this service pays close attention to the possibility of earthquakes in order to ensure we have a safe journey it's a reminder that this beautiful scenery is a result of constant changes and movements by planet Earth [Music] in fact the coastal Pacific Service was suspended in 2016 following a massive earthquake here in kaikoura which damaged the line significantly repairs were complete by 2018 and the rails have been just fine ever since welcome to kaikoura where we've got a short stretch break now this area is known for its Dolphins we won't have time to explore that instead we've got to get right back on the train only five minutes for a quick stretch break whistling it [Music] that was a close call but we made it back on and we were glad to be watching the train pull away from the station from inside rather than out there it's really high quite brisk out here so that's why I look so ridiculous but hey this ain't the organ Express is it having the observation car to ourselves made me wonder about a simple physics question that's been on my mind for a while now if I jump and the train keeps moving will I land on a different spot answer yes [Music] along this stretch we gained a real appreciation for the complex engineering required not only to build a railway but also a highway along here we also enjoyed spotting Wildlife along the way there were a few Dolphins countless seals some lucky passengers might even spot whales through here [Music] as we watched cars pass by we were reminded this trip wasn't built for Speed they're faster ways to get up to the top of the South Island but none are quite as comfortable as this [Music] [Music] thank you and just like that we've left the coastline behind which means it's time for some wine that didn't even mean to Rhyme or did I [Music] foreign [Music] forties Lake Grasmere has been used in the production of salt here in New Zealand salt water is allowed to evaporate here from these pools which leave salt deposits behind the salts collected and it's used primarily in industrial applications [Music] off in the distance barely visible is the cape Campbell Lighthouse which marks the southern approach of the cook Straits separating the south and north islands of New Zealand next week we'll make the trip across the strait to the North Island on board the inner Islander Ferry for now as we rounded cloudy Bay I thought about the warmth of the people of New Zealand that we encountered over the last two days we were sorry to be bidding a fond farewell to the trains of New Zealand's South Island no Jeb score for this experience instead it's won every Rail and travel Enthusiast has to add to their bucket list between now and the next time see you on the rails [Music] train leaves from Greymouth which is [Music] gray River we're not done yet you see we're that absolutely lived up to the hype one of the world's greatest Trail Journey strawberries and dolphins welcome to between now and the next time see you in the sky

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 1,064,879

Keywords: new zealand, luxury train travel, new zealand travel, arthurs pass, southern alps, luxury train, best places to visit in new zealand, new zealand travel guide, train ride, coastal pacific, luxury train travel vlog, luxury train travel in the world, new zealand travel video, new zealand travel tips, arthurs pass train, arthurs pass new zealand, tranzalpine, tranzalpine train new zealand, tranzalpine train, new zealand train ride, new zealand train travel, new zealand trains

Id: zNq6kzkaPlw

Length: 19min 46sec (1186 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 03 2022