nz day 6: across the south island and back again

We left Christchurch bright and early for a ride on the TranzAlpine train.  The train took us on a 4-hour journey over the Southern Alps and dropped us off on the other side of the South Island.

Map borrowed from http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/tranzalpine.aspx.

We both enjoyed standing in the open-air train car and taking pictures, but it wasn't long before Kristin realized that she was allergic to the mountain air.  After lots of sneezing, she went inside to view the sights through the windows while Nathan continued as the trip's official photographer.

Approaching the foothills.

Canterbury Plains meeting the foothills.

Nathan's journal entry: "The train to Greymouth was scenic but not quite as scenic as I had hoped.  The best views were of a river that the train followed.  The mountains were pretty, but they were the rolling kind (as opposed to rocky and jagged) that don't make for great pictures."

 

The Waimakariri River

Kristin's journal entry: "The ride was stunning, but I spent most of it sneezing.  Fortunately, you didn't have to be in the open-air car to get good views."

The train dropped us off in Greymouth, a small town on the west coast of the South Island.  Please keep Greymouth in your prayers.  They were the center of the recent national mining tragedy, and we visited there right in the midst of it.  From Greymouth, we proceeded to drive back across the South Island to the city of Nelson.

Kristin's journal entry: "We rented a car in Greymouth and first drove to the Pancake Rocks - they are so cool!  The drive was amazing - just like what I've always thought Hawaii would look like.  It was very tropical and rainforesty, and we hit it just at high tide." 

The coast along Highway 6 reminded us of California's Highway 1, but it was way better.

Nathan's journal entry: "...the drive up to Nelson was long but great.  The stretch up the coast was like California's highway 1, but with cool rock formations and mountains and rainforest.  Then there was the Pancake Rocks walk.  I was skeptical of their amazingness, but the rocks were definitely worth the stop."

The Pancake Rocks (or more officially, the Punakaiki Rocks) provided some great views of the coast.

We got to see the Pancake Rocks up close.  They get their name from the layers looking like stacks of pancakes.

The continually changing waves, combined with the layered characteristics of the rocks, have created some amazing formations.

Kristin is silly for putting this picture in here, but that tree had some crazy big spikes on it.

 

With a bit of imagination,you can find faces and animals in the rock formations.

Nathan's journal entry: "Farther north, we got some great views of the Paparoa Mountain Range as the highway turned back inland.  Unfortunately, the turnouts had lousy views, and the great views were from spots where we could not stop for pictures.  After that, though, the drive got really tedious with one-lane bridges where we could not see oncoming traffic, narrow gorges where we had very limited view of the mountains, and winding roads."

We followed the Buller River inland.  This area is renowned for fly fishing and rafting.

We were treated to a one lane section of road starting around that bend where we couldn't see oncoming traffic.

The narrow roads continued for a ways until we got to Murchison, where we came out in a wide valley.

The sun shone through the clouds to light up the green valley and mountains while it was still raining.

Kristin's journal entry: "The drive to Nelson was beautiful but a bit winding for my tastes.  I was glad to get to Murchison in the valley.  It was raining, and we saw 4 rainbows at once!  One was inverted, and the other 3 were stacked on top of each other.  We chased them for a good half hour."

Notice the dim rainbow on the left with red on the bottom and blue on the top?  And if you enlarge the image, you might make out all three sets of color bands for the main rainbow (it is clearest in the upper right corner).