TranzAlpine

Now that I've officially relocated to the North Island, time to backtrack and update you on my last adventure in the South Island before I made the trek north!

There are a few amazing train rides one can take in New Zealand.  One of them is called the "TranzAlpine", a 223km, 4.5 hr train journey right across the middle of the South Island, from Christchurch up to Greymouth.

I heard the trip was gorgeous, especially in the wintertime due to it's "TranzAlpine" crossing through the Southern Alps.  So I headed to Christchurch to do the round-trip adventure in one big, long exciting day!

Here's the train before we departed from the Christchurch Railway Station at 8AM (long day ahead!)

.

The most fun part was the viewing deck, where the wind was bone-chilling but the photo opportunities were fabulous!

I think I spent more of my time on this viewing deck than in my actual ticketed seat. :)

Leaving Christchurch, we crossed the Canterbury Plains, full of farmland and rivers.  But it wasn't too long before these beautiful snow-covered mountains came into view!

Here they are--- the Southern Alps!    They're a chain of mountains that pretty much run from the southwest to the northeast of the entire South Island.

For the first half of the journey, the train route follows the Waimakariri River, an ice-fed river about 150 km long.   Waimakariri means "river of cold rushing water".    It is a braided river, with wide shingle beds on the sides which it flows through and makes its criss-crossing "braided" pattern.

After the Waimakariri Gorge, we crossed one of the four viaducts, seen below.

In case you were wondering (like I was!), a viaduct is a bridge made of small sections (sometimes arches) used to carry a road (or a railroad) over a valley or another road.   

Then it got real snowy as we rode through Arthur's Pass National Park.  I was too lazy/cold to get out on the viewing deck for these photos, so pardon if there's some glare from the window. :)

The halfway point of the journey was a quick leg-stretch photo stop at Arthurs Pass.  The South Island's first National Park is located here.

Our train!  Choo-Choo!

After Arthurs Pass was the Otira Tunnel, 8.5 km of darkness with an elevation climb of 250 meters.  Because of the hard work of the engines and just how darn long the tunnel is, there's a concern for the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases building up in this tunnel.  For safety, passengers aren't allowed out on the viewing deck through the tunnel (duh, nothing to see anyway!).  Also, they've created a door and fan system that after a train goes into the tunnel, a door closes behind the train, and fans turn on to extract the fumes out.   Clever, eh?

 It wasn't soon after the Otira Tunnel that I saw a rainbow out the window.  

Wouldn't be a Linz adventure without one!

 Next up was passing by Lake Brunner, on the way to the West Coast.

And before you knew it, we were pulling in to the Greymouth Railway Station, all the way on the other coast of the South Island!   Some people choose to spend the night in this small town, but I chose to wander the downtown for the hour break, then hop back on for the return journey that afternoon.

Here is the mouth of the Grey River.  (any guesses how this town got its name?)

Greymouth is (and was) a coal town.  A European by the name of Thomas Brunner (any guesses how that Lake got its name??)  was the first European to visit this area, and discover coal here.  

Coal mining is a prosperous but dangerous industry.  The Pike River Mine is just over 40 km from Greymouth.  This is where an explosion occured last year, tragically killing 29 miners.

Below is a photo of a bridge leading to the Brunner Mine.   Here, in 1896,  65 miners died in an explosion- the worst mine disaster in New Zealand history.

After hearing about all that tragedy, it was appropriately fitting to see this, albeit faint, rainbow as we passed along Lake Brunner on the way back to Christchurch.

In other fun things, we passed my favorite type of cow.   SOME may call this a Belted Galloway.

I call it an Oreo Cow.  :)

  On the return trip, I got braver, bundled up, and went outside on the viewing deck to take some snowy pics.

 Looks like someone came along and sprinked powdered sugar everywhere!! :)

My favorite pic of the trip. 

The snow began to melt, a few more tunnels and bridges...

... and back to Christchurch we were by 6pm.  A long but incredibly scenic day!  A must-do trip, especially if in the South Island in the winter time.

And that's all from my six month stint in the South Island! 

 Stay tuned for more adventures back up North, and elsewhere in the South Pacific!



Rugby World Cup!

Have no fear, I am alive and well.  It's been a few weeks since I've blogged, basically because I've been busy taking trains, ferries and planes (and car rides) all over New Zealand and the South Pacific.  I've got so much to blog about but I'll first tell you about my Rugby World Cup experience!

The Rugby World Cup, like the Olympics, is played every 4 years.  It was a BIG deal that New Zealand was chosen to host the 2011 RWC.   The hype has been going on ever since I got here 13 months ago.  And now the tournament is finally here!  The opening ceremony was on Friday night in Auckland, and they reckon that just about every NZ household tuned in to watch it!   (I did, haha!).

Tickets went on sale to the public a few months ago, so, knowing that I was relocating to the North Island, I bought a ticket to the USA vs Ireland game, to be held in good ol' New Plymouth (just 1 hr north of my first locums job in Hawera, but 4 hours from my new job in Mount Maunganui).  Dianne, my pottery teacher, lives in New Plymouth and kindly invited me to stay with her for the weekend.  It's a great thing, as accomodation in this country is at a premium during RWC!

It was a dreary day in Taranaki the day of the game. (Surprise surprise, eh?)

The storefronts were decked out in USA or Ireland parephenalia..

They had a "Fan Zone" tent and display in a courtyard downtown. 

Me and the giant Taranaki Rugby Ball!

The day before the game, I needed some energy (I drove over 4 hrs to get to New Plymouth), so I hit up Starbucks.   Waiting in line for their coffees were 3 USA players!  I chatted with them and wished them good luck.  I was too shy to ask for a photo.  But then as I was sitting on the patio, another player went in by himself.  On his way out, I chatted it up with him.  (Sadly, I don't know his name).   There were a table of 3 guys sitting behind me, so I kindly asked one of them to take our photo. The USA player said "you'd probably rather your photo with HIM, not me!"   Turns out my photographer was Jonathan Sexton, one of the star players of the Ireland team!   HA!  

Me and some guy on the USA Rugby Team :)

Talk about international representation under one roof!  Dianne's a Kiwi and her husband Bruce is a Canadian...and me the Yankee :)

The day of the game, after Dianne's crafty help with my USA parephenalia, I met up with my Blenheim friends Denise, George, Pam and Pat who made the trek up North to support the Irish.  

The Irish were quite a-plenty, but I found these very very patriotic American supporters!

And then the REAL interesting part of the day began.   It was about 2 hours before the game, and we heard some brass band pumping out the tunes. I walk out into the street to see this!!!

Up there on the balcony was the US Marine Corps band!

I was (alone) dancing in the street, waving my American flag, and they were eating it up!

After the 2nd song, some professional looking guy in a rugby jersey and dress pants was waving me up to join their party.   I looked to the left and the right of me and then pointed at myself, and he nodded!   So I drug Dianne along to the lobby, where there were two guys working security!  I excitedly said "some guy up on the balcony invited us upstairs!", and the secruity men let us up!!

 And there we were, at some professional USA rugby preparty!  SCORE!

Full spread of food!  Burgers!  Fries!  Brats!

Apple pie and ice cream!  And Budweiser to wash it down!  Ahhhh feels like home :)

Then who comes up to our table but the US Ambassador to New Zealand, David Huebner!!  Of course it was a photo opportunity!

Apparently there were also several members of Parliament there as well!  Talk about a VIP party!!

After mingling w/the big-whigs and filling my belly with some American treats, it was time to head to the match!

This was the same stadium I saw the Tenderlink Taranaki play in just over a year ago.  It looked SO different with all the brightly colored advertisements and of course all the Irish and American fans!!

Since it was 9/11, they had a moment of silence of rememberance of that tragic day in American history.

 And then it was time for the game!  YAHOO!

I paid the extra 60 bucks to get seats under cover because I knew how nasty Taranaki weather could be.  They were 60 dollars well spent, because the weather turned rainy at times.

It was a really good game!  USA was the underdog, but put forth an excellent effort.  The Irish scored a try 15 seconds right before halftime, which was quite sad.

I *think* the white guy in the back was the guy I met at Starbucks!!!

My favorite moment of the game was when we first scored.  They blasted "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen!  I was the only American fan sitting in my section, and I proudly got up, danced, and waved my American flag!  What fun!!

In the end, USA ended up losing.  But we managed to score a try right before the end, which was very exciting, so the final score was 22-10.

It was a long drive back home that night, but well worth the effort!

Rugby may not be USA's best sport, but I just had to support my country, even if it involved eight hours of driving, very little sleep, and lots of ridicule from the Irish fans.

Cheers from one proud American!


UPDATE:   So that wasn't actually an American player.  :(   While I was watching the USA/Russia game on TV, I couldn't find him on the field.  I then spotted him up in the coach's box wearing a suit/tie and pacing back and forth. Alas, must be one of the coaching stuff.  Still a good story, though!  :)