Day 7 The epic train ride - Wow!

Today's adventure was a 5hr train ride from Blenheim to Christchurch on the scenic Pacific Coastal train. We came here for spectacular scenery and today lived up to that ....and then some! It was certainly the prettiest train ride we have ever taken with nonstop jaw dropping views for almost the entire trip. The train cars had huge windows for great viewing and the craziest thing was the open-air viewing car! On one side of the train was the ocean with a mainly a rocky coastline and crashing waves. There were also several very long beaches - all completely void of people or buildings. It was a nature extravaganza! The other side of the train had a variety of rolling hills dotted with sheep, rolling streams and majestic mountain ranges. Sometimes we were running from one side of the open-air car to the other to try and catch the best view. It was truly stunning!

This area looked a little like the Lake District in the UK but maybe a little bigger and dryer! I confess I (Steve) just had a big smile on my face all day with the views and the entire train experience.

The views just kept getting better and better!

In the background are Mt Manakau (8556 ft) and Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku (9465 ft)

Apparently, much of this rocky shore was uplifted in an earthquake.

We made it to Christchurch - in the dark so haven't had a good chance to evaluate but so far looks really good. More on that tomorrow.

NZ Fun Fact: There is a huge Asian influence on the food here. Who knew?