The Land of the Long White Cloud - Landscapes from a Train

Back on the 3rd of December I took one of the world's most scenic train journeys and traveled by KiwiRail from Christchurch up through the Southern Alps and right across to the west coast at Greymouth and back.

Along the way, as it winds up into the mountains, the train travels over bridges across ravines and through many little tunnels. The landscapes on view include barren peaks, high altitude lakes, dark tannic rivers, isolated sheep stations, huge cattle ranches and, as it is high summer, fields of purple lupins and yellow gorse and broom. It is stunning.

The train has big windows and an open air viewing carriage where you can get covered in soot.

Sooty viewing platform

Diesel engine

train-spotters

Route

Native Podocarp forest and tannic river (east coast)

inside carriage

Lupins and broom on the high plains