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Coast to Coast
The New Zealand TranzAlpine Train means business right from the start.by
Andrew Taylor
A distant whistle sounds and the TranzAlpine’s heavy diesel
engines roar into life. Taking up the
slack, the linking shackles jolt us into our seats. We’re under way at 9am on the dot.
Canterbury Plains to roll out
in front of us; morning tea arrives and I meet Molly from England and Jake from
Kansas. The first sight of grazing sheep causes the visitors some excitement. Startled by our train, the sheep run away to the safety of high hedges, at the far end of their paddock. ”Are they
always that crazy?” asks Jake. We stop in
Sheffield to pick up the last of our passengers. The local pre-school group comes out to wave; 20 kids wave, while
138 passengers wave back from the comfort of their luxury seats.
Known
as the Great Divide, the Alps, are the backbone of the South Island. Constantly
pushed higher by a primordial battle between the Indo Australian and Pacific
tectonic plates, the range now stretches for some 150 kilometers, and has more
than 180 named peaks.
Against a stunning backdrop of the alpine
foothills the train starts its climb into the Torlesse Mountain Range. Then the
Waimakariri River comes into view. Like
her sister rivers the Rakaia, Ashburton, Rangitata and the Waitaki, the
Waimakariri has carved out a wide deep ravine, which twists and turns for more
than 95km. In the Waimakariri River gorge, the scenery takes
on qualities, which give the TranzAlpine its international reputation. This is big country, almost a forgotten
frontier. Immense alpine shingle screes
cling to the sides of nameless grey mountains. Vast glacial valleys are criss-crossed with tempestuous juvenile
mountain rivers, which cascade down rough shingle riverbeds before dipping away
into deep rocky gorges. Exposed to the elements on the observation deck,
I grip the handrail tightly. The cold alpine wind sucks our breath away and
chills our bones. Americans, Germans and English travellers keenly lean out
into the icy wind to photograph the dramatic scenery. The air is mixed with diesel fumes as the train
disappears into the first of the 16 tunnels on this stretch of railway.
Construction of the Otira tunnel began in 1907
and was finally finished in 1923. The rock is so hard it took two hours to
drill a 2-inch hole in the rock face. The 8.5km tunnel has a reputation as one
of the world’s most difficult tunnelling projects. Out of the Otira tunnel, the landscape is
different. We are now properly on the West Coast. Where it is greener, and more
laid-back. Heavy rain clouds hang around the tops of the bush clad hills. The
contrast between the two coasts is remarkable and extreme. The train joins the Taramakau River and pass the
village of Jackson and the world famous Jackson’s Hotel, home of New Zealand’s
infamous possum pies, We are still in wild, deserted bush country as we
continue through to Inchbonnie where they get 6m of rain a year. Inchbonnie is
Scottish for beautiful island. With all this greenery and rain, it is well
named.
The TranzAlpine increases speed as it steams
through Rotomanu, past Lake Brunner, then Te Kinga and Moana. Moana started
life as a trading post and fishing station offering some of the world’s most
elusive trout to wealthy turn-of-the-century out-doors men. The area has been
heavily logged of its native rimu and kahikatea trees. The timber ran out in
the 60s, a universal cry on the coast. The settlement of Kokiri, and the Arnold river.
New Zealand’s highest stocked Trout River, are next. The train quickens its
pace as we head for the coast.
On the platform, we head for the Smelting House
Café where Margaret Western confesses to be a registered dietitian, assistant
cook and pot washer. Jake, the American, decides to try one of these “meat pie
things.” But he is cautious enough to ask if they were purchased from Jackson’s
Hotel. Travel File
The TranzAlpine has a crew of four, and runs seven days a week, carrying up to 350 passengers. Travellers who are more adventurous can stop off at Arthur’s Pass, and spend five hours visiting Arthur’s Pass National Park, then catch the TranzAlpine on its return trip. Check times with your travel agent. Return trips, or one way trips, in any direction are available. It pays to book in advance. See any travel agent, or Tranz rail booking office. Cost of the return trip is $NZ109,
morning and afternoon tea provided. -Updated 11-19-99- |
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TM
The TranzAlpine
accelerates out of Christchurch Station and races through the industrial
district of Rolleston. Crossing lights
flash, and barrier arms drop into place, while motorists and truckies wait for
us to pass. Winner of New Zealand’s supreme tourist award in 1997, and voted as
one of the World’s top six rail journeys, the TranzAlpine means business right
from the start.
After
Sheffield, the alpine railway climbs to Springfield, the start of the Southern
Alps crossing. 
Springfield is a small
agricultural servicing town; for many years, it was home of legendary Border
collie dog Rosie. Rosie met the train every morning and as a reward, she was
given a meat pie. Rose is estimated to have eaten more than 5000 meat pies in
her fifteen-year career as Springfield’s official train greeter.
Peterson’s Creek, The staircase, Broken River and
the Sloven Viaducts pass by. Next, Craigieburn Station, 324000ha of tussock
covered sheep country leads us through the Polar and Black Ranges. On into the Bealey Valley, and the township
of Arthur’s Pass, where we have a chance to stretch our legs. An extra loco is
added to our train at Arthur’s Pass. The gradient between Arthur’s Pass and the
Otira tunnel is 1:33, extremely steep for any train.
Crossing the main fault line,
Lake Poerua glides past. Cows graze the bulrush paddocks with ancient post and
batten fences. The trout in the streams hereabouts have orange flesh, a West
Coast version of Orange Roughie. 
The Grey River is in flood; it
bubbles and boils along beside us as the first houses of Greymouth begin to slow
the TranzAlpine. Our four-hour journey ends minutes later at Greymouth Station.