The Last Train To Greymouth

(and the first- just one daily)

One of the first things that caught my fancy about visiting New Zealand was reading about the train trip across the southern alps, the TranzAlpine Express (they love to make words and phrases incorporating NZ, pronounced "En Zed"). My resolve was set when I learned that Jonathan and Heidi Pace were now living in Greymouth, the western terminus. The Paces were in Fort Bragg for several years, and then set off wandering a bit before landing in Greymouth in 2005. He is a general surgeon and she is a therapist, and they are both happily settled now, with two sons currently living at home. We have been in touch via email, and we booked a trip the weekend of August 21st. We boarded the train just outside of Christchurch, in Rolleston, where the "station" is a bare track-side platform. It was cold and dreary at the onset, but as the train slowly climbed through the broad Canterbury plains to Arthur's Pass (elev. 737 m/2,417 ft) , clouds and sun began to appear. 

The building of the railroad must have been quite a feat, as the tracks wind through steep gorges, over four tall viaducts, and through 19 tunnels, with the Otira Tunnel an impressive 5.3 miles long. On the west side, we slowly descended by lovely lakes

Lake Brunner

following the Grey River down to the Tasman Sea to the town of Greymouth. Heidi Pace graciously met us at the station, we dropped our things off at the motel, and went to their home for coffee and a snack. Jon was on call for surgery, so we arranged to meet up with him later. Fayne and I had time to take a walk out on the pier at the edge of town.

Heidi suggested we go to a talk at a local gallery where a Kiwi author was discussing his new book on the Tasman Sea, which served as an introduction to our visit to the region. We finally met up with Jonathan at a local funky restaurant where there was an impromptu meeting of hospital people.
Sunday morning they showed us around the hospital and about town. He was making an effort to recruit us to come there, but the weather isn't the best, and the town suffers from periodic devastating floods, most recently in 1988. They finally built a tall flood wall ("the Great Wall of Greymouth"), but many of the old buildings did not survive over the years. Here is a look from the flood wall down a main street

and a look back up the river.

The Paces could not have been more hospitable, and overall we had a great visit.

Jon and Heidi in front of the station

On the trip back, I tried to be out on the viewing platform as much as possible to better enjoy the scenery and get some blog-worthy photos. Here are a few as we wound back through broad rivers, by snow-capped mountains, and over deep gorges.

Every place we have been in New Zealand seems more beautiful than the last. If only I can find a train trip with penguins on it.......Hmmmmm.