The Coastal Pacific departs from Christchurch at 07h00 for a 5h40 journey up to Picton. Being winter, it was still very dark out, but as we left the city and headed out onto the Canterbury plains the sun began to rise.  

I headed out to the viewing carriage to take in the beautiful sunrise as we crossed rivers and passed fields.

The early morning light (and early morning cold) made the first hour pass in a flash. We kept crossing wide alpine rivers which were super impressive, but also quite difficult to photograph.

As we got further from Christchurch and headed deeper inland the Kaikōura Ranges began to appear on the horizon with their snow-capped peaks. 

Before long, we hit the coast.

The train follows the coastline very closely which was pretty impressive but also worrying thinking about the inevitable sea level rises to come in the future. 

On a more positive note, it was absolutely stunning seeing the sea mist and the imposing green hills with the snowy mountains popping up behind. 

Hitting the coast was also a sign we were approaching Kaikōura, the mid-way point on this journey north. We dived back inland for a bit as coastal plains opened up.

In Kaikōura we dropped off and picked up a few passengers, giving just enough time to jump off the train and walk down the platform and take in the view (of both the mountains and the train). 

Then the whistle blew and the stragglers rushed back onboard.

We continued tracking the coast north, but the scenery was was a bit less extreme and felt more inhabited, especially as we joined the freshly reconstructed State Highway 1.

The Kaikōura Earthquake in 2016 destroyed a lot of the road and tracks along this stretch of coast, so everything was very new and flash-looking. Though I preferred the parts of the journey where the rails were in front of, rather than behind, the road. 

Fortunately we went through some tunnels and soon got closer to the ocean again as we passed some pretty black sand beaches.

We then headed back inland as we neared Blenheim. Passing the pink salt flats of Lake Grassmere on our way. 

Once past Lake Grassmere we had to ascend through the Redwood Pass, which gave a hint of what the weather might be like in Picton... 

Once over the Pass and back down on the flat we trundled through vineyards around Blenheim. 

The last thirty minutes of the journey into Picton had some of the most fascinating scenery with deep green forests on one side and bare logged hillsides on the other. 

It felt a bit eery passing all these dead trees in the river.  

Soon enough we reached Picton where, surprisingly, it wasn't raining and I bid the train farewell before wandering through town to the Interislander terminal.

But this is enough of a photo dump for one day so I'll leave that journey for the next post :)

After a couple days in Wellington it was time to head home to Auckland via the Northern Explorer. This 11 hour train departs Wellington at 07h55 and traverses the North Island before arriving in Tāmaki Makaurau at 18h50.

While it was a dry morning in Wellington it soon started raining as we passed Porirua and headed up the Kapiti Coast. I just sat back and relaxed rather than brave a wet viewing carriage. Once we got up towards Ōtaki things dried up a bit. The scenery wasn't too exciting at first but we did get a good look at the new bridge for the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway.

Things began to improve past Ōtaki with some nice bends and green countryside.

This part of the country is very agricultural, with Palmerston North as the main inland hub for the Lower North Island.

Palmerston North was a major pick-up point for the train. Really demonstrating that despite this officially being a tourist service, it has the potential to be so much more.

The weather continued improving, along with the scenery, as we headed towards the centre of the North Island.

We crossed some major viaducts which offered impressive views over the increasingly severe landscapes.

Then before long we left the sheep-grazing plains behind us and reached the Central Plateau.

This high altitude part of the country reminds me a bit of Shetland where I was born, with its barren tree-less landscape. 

Once again, the weather began to turn, so I retreated back inside for a while. Despite that, these landscapes were probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the journey because they were so unlike the rest of it – almost otherworldly.

Then, passing Ohakune and National Park, we began to cross a series of viaducts. My favourite of which was the Hapuawhenua Viaduct below.

It was quite a challenge to photograph these viaducts, especially as it felt half the train entered the viewing car as we neared them! 

I was a little disappointed we couldn't see Mount Ruapehu due to low clouds, but fortunately there was still plenty else to look at in this section.

We descended from the Central Plateau using the Raurimu Spiral. An impressive feat of engineering involving three hairpin bends, a horseshoe curve, and two tunnels that allows trains to ascend and descend 139m in altitude. It was pretty cool to feel the train take all the corners in short succession. 

Once down on the flat again we entered the Waikato, where rather than sheep it is dairy cattle that is king.

From here, the journey, scenery-wise wasn't too exciting so I took the opportunity to read some of my book while periodically staring out the window. We dropped off about half the train at Hamilton and then made our way to Auckland in the dark before arriving exactly on time at The Strand.