No yodeling, but yes sheep: Tranz Alpine train/Christchurch Day 2

You know, I start every entry by saying that we woke up early and attacked the day, so I figured today it is time for a change. We slept way past the alarm and missed all of our activities for the day! You guys, I cannot lie. Of course we were up way early and ready to go. We headed out to grab a cab to the train station and, in a way, were glad to see that it was raining (since we'd planned to be inside anyway, and it had to rain sometime, right?). It was really quite cold this morning, and the rain made it feel even colder. We took a cab to Christchurch train station -- our driver was Brandon Foley! Awesome. I don't think he and Gretchen are related, but they did talk about where in Ireland their people came from. He also told us a story about the history of the train station, which was very sweet but which was nt over by the time we arrived at the station, so we were torn between cutting off a sweet old man's story and catching our prepaid, non-refundable train that only leaves once a day. With a little regret and many apologies, we chose option B and had to run for it as usual.

We made it to the station just in time to board the 8:15 Tranz Alpine train for a scenic trip through the Southern Alps to Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island. Unlike Amtrak, the train company assigned us to a particular car and seat; also unlike Amtrak, the train left right on time for our 150-mile journey across the island. We trundled through an industrial section of Christchurch before hitting the open plains that were, predictably, populated by adorable sheep (I read that there are 3 million people in NZ and 44 million sheep…quite a ratio). There were grey clouds over us but blue skies to the west, so I was optimistic about the weather for the day. The Tranz Alpine train is mostly a scenic route, so there is only one train each way per day. I think the train's passing through these little towns must be quite the event, because often when the train crossed the road, people were waving to us from their parked cars. On the other hand, NZers are ridiculously nice, so that just might be their way.

After we were blown away gastronomically by the pancakes, we were stunned by the vista unfolding before us.

The café car opened around 9:00, and Gretchen was off to fetch us the breakfast of champions: Pancakes! Pancakes on a train! Everybody, I have done a lot of raving about the food in New Zealand and how fresh and perfect it is, but I had pretty low expectations for pancakes on the train…but complete surprise/no real surprise, the pancakes were outstanding. They were served with real maple syrup and whipped cream (yes, on the TRAIN), and I mean the real stuff. No Log Cabin or Cool Whip here! They tasted like caramel pancakes. They were awesome. Ask for them by name, that name being "New Zealand Caramel Train Cakes."

After we were blown away gastronomically by the pancakes, we were stunned by the vista unfolding before us. We had seen rolling green hills and even tall green mountains in the North Island, but we were not prepared for the Southern Alps. This name "Alps" is not an exaggeration. These are real snow-capped mountains, very much like the European Alps. As we got closer, I could see that the tops of the mountains are covered with evergreen trees that are dusted with snow; the mountains look like they are sprinkled with sugar. Farther down the mountains, it was green enough for the requisite sheep to be grazing. Oh yes, that is just as picturesque as you might imagine. As we went along, the conductor came on the PA and told us what we were looking at. We saw that Waimakariri River, which we'd noticed from the plane coming in. It is a broad, winding river that is fed by the melting ice of the Alps, so this being early summer, it was mostly dry today since the snow was still adorably on top of the mountains.

The train itself was much like Amtrak trains, i.e. 2 seats on each side of the aisle, tiny toilet at the end of the car, with one exception: It had a viewing car in the middle for you to take pictures. This is essentially a car with no glass windows, just open sides so you don't get glare from the glass. There were handrails, but that was it in terms of safety. I spent a lot of time out there on our way to the west coast -- I just wish I had brought gloves, because it got really cold as we went on. The train journey goes through 19 tunnels, and one of my fellow shutterbugs almost lost his camera at the first one; he was facing the rear of the car and had his camera out over the rail, setting up a shot, and thanks to another guy who saw what was happening and warned him, he pulled it in just as the tunnel wall zipped by us. I guess that's why that sign is there, telling you NOT to lean out, jackass.

We arrived at Arthur's Pass National Park, high in the mountains, where we left off some people who were staying in the park for the afternoon. At this point, the vegetation was all evergreens, and we had left the sheep behind us long ago. It was frigid, but we got out for fresh mountain air. Brisk! After a few minutes, we herded back onto the train and set out for Greymouth, on our way going through the 5-mile-long Ohira tunnel through one of the Alps itself. It took about 15 minutes to go through the tunnel, and we burst out of it into a completely different environment. The weather was warm and beautiful, the trees were green, flowers were in bloom, and the sheep were back. I went back to the viewing car, where I saw several waterfalls from the snow melting and running down the mountains. I guess all the prettiness must have exhausted me, plus trains are just so damn relaxing in the first place, because I took a short nap back in my seat and woke up just as we pulled into Greymouth at 12:45, right on time. Take that, Amtrak!

Greymouth is a tiny town right on the west coast. It was warm and beautiful out, so we had a chance to walk around (but not much, since the return train was scheduled to depart at 1:45, and we know they follow train schedules here). We wandered to the edge of town and could see, in the distance the crashing waves of the Tasman Sea on the beach. We checked out the shops in Greymouth, visiting a jade store, a bookstore, and a grocery store, where we found the perfect NZ strawberries like those we had in Rotorua. Gretchen increased the greatness of the day by a factor of ten when she sprinted to get us delicious Robert Harris coffee, since the train coffee was not good at all.

The train left right on time, and as we pulled out of Greymouth, we enjoyed the strawberries. Gretchen, in her infinite wisdom, had also purchased some chocolate fruit dip that was less of a "dip" and more "thick chocolate icing." As you might guess, this combination was awesome. After our strawberry snack, we pulled out the Australia travel guide and planned our time in Surfers Paradise, Cairns, and Sydney. I don't want to spoil it for you, but guess what: We are not slowing down one bit! You will have to check back in to see exactly what we will be doing, but I assure you that we will be as busy as usual. Anyway, the train rolled into Christchurch at 6:05 (say it with me: Right on time) and we caught a cab back to the hotel to drop off our travelling gear.

We headed out to center city again in search of drinks and dinner. I don't think I have mentioned this so far on the blog, but we have been amazed by the length of the days here. The sun is always up when we are (it comes up around 6am, I think) and it stays light outside until after 9pm. Amazing! I think all of the sunlight is energizing. Anyway, we caught the free Shuttle back to Cathedral Square in hopes of seeing the cathedral itself and doing some shopping, but we were dismayed to see that everything in Chch closes at 7pm. Everything, that is, except the bars on the Strip, so we headed over there. We went to a bar called Viaduct that caught our eye and had some drinks: NZ wine for her, NZ beer for me. We really liked the atmosphere of the bar, so we hung out for a few hours -- what is weird is that we were virtually alone there, by DC standards. There were about 8 tables with people having dinner and maybe 4 other people at the bar itself, but Chchers clearly don't go out after work during the week. Definitely a change from what we are used to.

Anyway, we weren't really hungry when we left Viaduct, but as we wandered back to the hotel, we were drawn in to a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant that we'd seen one of the train workers go into earlier that day. We figured that since she lives here, she must know where the good food is, so we stopped in for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I had pad thai that was much peanuttier than what we get in DC. Terrific, and cheap! After dinner, we went back to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow we have a few hours to see Christchurch before we catch our flight to Brisbane, Australia, and we want to see the cathedral and maybe get some wool sweaters.