Ginger Without Borders

We were warned that New Zealand would be colder than Australia but Christchurch was quite warm. We soon discovered that New Zealand has the opposite problem of Australia. While Australia is suffering drought and bush fires, New Zealand is having a very rainy Spring. So much rain has fallen that it has twice washed out the same part of the track for the TransApline Railroad Train we were supposed to take to the New Zealand alps. So our train ride would only take us 2/3 of the way to Graymouth where we would pick up our rental car. The rest of the way would be in a bus.

Because it is one of the top ten scenic train rides in the world, we elected to make the journey (as did a train full of other folks). The train included a commentary on the features and history of the areas we passed which we took advantage of while we ate chicken and mushroom pies for breakfast (noticing a trend here?). The prevailing winds come from the west off the Tasman Sea and drop most of its moisture on the west side of the NZ alps (so it is one of the wettest places on the planet). The coastal plain on the eastern side of the mountains leading into Christchurch remains fairly dry, making it perfect for wine production and sheep and cattle.

There is also a phenomenon where fine sand from the rocky mountains is blow up by the high winds and carried over the mountains where it mixes with the rain clouds to produce frequent rainbows. There was a light rain falling when we left Christchurch and we were treated to one of those rainbows as we got closer to the alps.

As we entered the eastern side of the NZ alps, we were informed by one of the stewards that the river gorges we were about to see were normally modestly full of crystal clear water running over a rocky bottom. Because of all the rain that contributed to the landslide, we were about to see the river at flood stage. There was an open car at the front of the train for those that were brave enough to stand the wind blown rain. The temperatures were falliing quickly as well, so I left the open car and settled for photos through the windows (a lot drier if not prettier option).

By the time we arrived at the transfer point to the buses, the rain was falling steadily and the temperature was cold. The silver lining in the clouds was that at this point on the rail line, the train tracks entered a five mile long tunnel that took ten years to build in the 1880s. The buses would have to go over the pass that was originally built for the horse teams to pull gold over the mountains to Christchurch. The rain made sure that all the waterfalls on this road were full and the view (even through the bus windows beaded with water drops) was amazing.

The bus journey ended at the train station in Greymouth, a small town on the Tasman Sea, about three hours after we left Christchurch. We grabbed our rental car and headed south (toward the equator) along the Tasman Sea. We could just make out the waves crashing on shoreline through the rainy mist. If there were mountains nearby, they were hidden by the rainclouds. After about an hour, we finally turned inland and followed a tour bus going 20mph round a steep mountain climb for about 20 minutes. Then the road dropped down almost as quickly and opened up again. We began to pass a series of small lakes as we climbed slightly up the valley. It turns out that the small town of Franz Joseph at the base of the Franz Joseph glacier is only about 700 feet above sea level. The glacier is one of the few in the world that are so close to sea level that the glacier’s water empties into a temperate rain forest. But the glacier also rises to over 6,000 feet and is 7 miles long. The rain had lifted sufficiently for us to see the snow covered peaks as we approached the town.

The kind lady at reception tried to talk us into making the one and a half hour walk up to the glacier (“while the weather was good” acording to her), but we had been traveling for 8 hours. We have learned that you can’t do everything in one day, so we passed. But we did take a photo in case the clouds returned.

PS., Lena we did apparently earn a refund of some of your inheritance from the TransAlpine Railroad since the train did not take us all the way to Greymouth. Mom is too tired to get mad at me tonight, so I am safe for now.