Tranzalpine Rail Excursion in Akaroa

[Acrusa]

What is the temperature for that area the end of Feb?Is it below 32 or above 50?

[Aus Traveller]

What is the temperature for that area the end of Feb?Is it below 32 or above 50?

Probably around 50 (but that is 'freezing' to us). After all, it is summer.:D

[Kotuku]

There is only one train running this route. Daily from Christchurch through to the West Coast and return. It does not matter which side you sit on as the train is not wide and has large windows. There is an outdoor carriage which allows for great photography.

 

I personally would only do this as a ship excursion due to the time constraints and the earthquakes which are still rocking Christchurch.

 

We are once again getting our trips mixed up. The Tairi one I went on goes from Dunedin to Middlemarch, Central otago, while the transalpine goes from Christshurch to Greymouth on the west coast. The transalpine I imagine is a lot longer but I have heard that you can go halfway and come back so it is a shorter time. Also although they are having earthquakes in Christchurch they are lessening and are thought to be finishing soon - last nights TV news. The earthquakes were a one in a thousand year happening so they say that the activity is pretty much over. just small ones for a while.

[WilliamtheExplorer]

"We are thinking of this excursion as well. I watched several youtube videos with the parrots on Arthur's Pass. They are very entertaining

(as long as they are not ripping apart my car.) "

 

 

Did you take the TranzAlpine trian through a ship tour and did you get to see the kea parrots???

[dancinman66]

I did this one many years ago

Really is worth it to do if you have the time

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[TLCOhio]

Good to see questions on this Tranz Alpine rail "adventure" come up. We did this trip earlier this year from Akaroa through our ship. Celebrity offered two version for a second part after the rail trip to Arthur's Pass National Park. One was visiting a sheep ranch. The other involved a JetBoat ride. As noted and shown below, we did the JetBoat.

 

Super loved that experience!! The rail, if just sitting in the regular passenger car, might be only so-so for some tastes/styles. Part of the trip was covering fairly flat, average areas. BUT, I did a large part of the trip in the front, open observation car that allowed for a greater range of amazing visuals and super photo opportunities. Below are only a few of my examples, plus a couple from the JetBoat excitement. Loved being in and around these mountains, seeing the water/river action, etc.

 

There were seven couples in our travel group from Central Ohio. Check out these live/blog postings for more info/background on these great ports, wonderful sights, etc. We also did the ship's overnight, two-day Queenstown excursion and that also worked out so wonderful. Seeing the interior of NZ's South Island was totally amazing. Would not have wanted to have missed those sights!!

 

Added questions or info needs? Just post any interests on my live/blog site and I will be happy to share more.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 76,338 views for this fun posting.

 

 

First is one of my visuals that gives a little sampling for the spectacular Waimakariri River gorge seen from the Tranz Alpine Rail trip. Great "drama" in this aspect of the trip, especially with the blue waters that we would later travel "up-close-and-personal" via a JetBoat trip.:

 

 

 

This second picture gives an idea for the view from the outdoor viewing platform near the front of this train. It had a covered roof but open sides to create an ideal location to take photos from the train. No photo glare from trying to shoot through a window. I spent most the time through the mountains in this location.:

 

 

 

Yes, there was snow on some of the mountain tops in this part of NZ, even during the summer time. The blue water are part of scenic nature for this park and its nearby area. The mix of steep gorges and wide braided rivers straddle the main divide. Below are three more visual samples from here and captured during our late January 2014 trip.:

 

 

 

 

 

With the NZ JetBoat, we loved the THRILLS doing these fast, roaring shots up and down this narrow and scenic section of this river. I was fortunately seated right behind our excellent driver, Greg Peacock. I didn't get very wet, but those on the right side got more of the "showers". No extra charge. But, nobody got too wet. It was all part of the fun. At a couple points during our about 25-minute trip on the river, Greg stopped at a scenic location in this river/gorge to give us more background on these boats, experiences in doing this work since 1998 for him, etc. These Hamilton Jet Boats were developed around 1960, including work done at this site to perfect the design and test the models/designs. Notice the great background/dramatic areas that we were "sailing" up and down?:

 

 

 

Here is a picture that my wife loved. Notice her hands and those of others in our row super tightly gripping the safety bar? That says so much about the speed and thrills while roaring up and down this amazing stretch of scenic river near Christchurch. I showed my wife this picture (and several others like this one of her where the wind was blowing her hair in the opposite direction). She liked this picture so much, that she said to put this one in her obituary (not that this need is upcoming anytime soon). It showed her having fun and she said this ride was the most fun of the whole cruise/trip. We had lots of great moments on this trip, but one was a unique and special ride in a location that is spectacularly world-class. And, perfect weather with good friends added to the great joy!!:

 

[Beanb41]

This 8 1/2 hour combined rail and bus excursion thru the Southern Alps of NZ is being offered on our upcoming Regent cruise. The price is $399 pp. Is it worth that much? Should we do it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

I have done the Tranzalpine a couple of times , both times in Winter. The beauty of this trip in Winter is the snow. The winter scenery in Winter covered in snow is breath taking. One of our trips however had no snow anywhere and the picture painted is definitely average.

 

Thus if travelling in summer when no snow is possible I would give it a miss but if travelling in the middle of winter then I would take a punt.

 

The return trip CHCH to Greymouth can be purchased in NZ on special for around $100. To take advantage of this special when it is offered one must book in NZ. Tranzscenic have different pricing scales for bookings made in country and for offshore

[Tricky33]

We are also stopping at Akaroa on the Celebrity Solstice in Jan 2017. We are wanting to hire a car and drive to Arthurs Pass for the day. It is approx. 3 hrs drive. Just want to experience the mountains in the Sth Island - has anyone done this trip before? As we are a family of 5 - don't want to do the railway journey, du

e to cost and time constraints. Thx

[OzKiwiJJ]

It should be doable. I've never done the Arthurs Pass route by car but the roads are very good in NZ. I've driven Christchurch to Akaroa and that's a lovely drive, very scenic.

[Tricky33]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I'mm hoping it is doable!!..the ship arrives at Akaroa 8am and departs at 6pm. Won't be time for any great stretch of sightseeing in Arthurs pass, but it will be hopefully a good scenic drive together. The road from Akaroa to Christchurch is probably better than the one from Christchurch to Arthurs Pass?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Probably similar. The Arthurs Pass road may even be better as it's a major through route to the West Coast.

 

Allow time for photo stops on the way. NZ roads are usually fairly good for having places you can pull off the road to take photos at scenic spots. Do stop at the top of the hill from Akaroa, the view over the harbour is spectacular. There is a lookout area there, I think.

[Beanb41]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I'mm hoping it is doable!!..the ship arrives at Akaroa 8am and departs at 6pm. Won't be time for any great stretch of sightseeing in Arthurs pass, but it will be hopefully a good scenic drive together. The road from Akaroa to Christchurch is probably better than the one from Christchurch to Arthurs Pass?

 

Be prepared to travel to the next port should something go amiss. Akaroa is a tender port and unless you have priority access to a tender then you may have to wait a bit. Ships tenders only are used here. This is a common jump off point for those going all the way to Greymouth and pick up the ship in Milford Sound for a cruise going from Milford to Australia. This is not a trip I would consider driving to Arthurs Pass from Akaroa and return unless I was 100% sure of getting back.

[OzKiwiJJ]

They'd need to line up for the tender very early, and ensure they are back in Akaroa well before the final tender time.

 

But they can see how they are going, they don't have to go all the way to Arthurs Pass if they had delays leaving the ship. They'll still see some amazing scenery along the way.

[bl262000]

G'day all,

 

Have done both trips when we did NZ by Pacific Pearl. The Taieri Gorge train could easily be done without the ships help. The place where the cruise train stopped and returned was Pukerangi. Lunch was included which was a pre packed lunch of sandwiches, cheese and biscuits with a muffin. Alcohol and soft drinks where provided free.

The Trainz Alpine train involved a bus trip via a mornning tea at a homestead. The bus then continues up the hill into the alps and into Arthurs pass national park. Along the way photostops are performed.

The train is waiting at Arthurs pass station and is a special service for the ship. Usually (apparently from what we were told) is that it is usually a railmotor but in our case it was a short 3 car train with viewing platform. Again lunch was provided similar to the Taieri Gorge train only bigger. The packs were handmade in the station refreshment room at Springfiled. Champane/drinks were also complementry.

There is a stop made at Springfield where the food trolleys are unloaded.

Then the next station, Rolleston we were back on the bus for the 1hour? trip back to the ship.

In our case we had to stop and wait halfway back to Akaroa after another passenger missed the bus back from Christchurch and so needed to get a cab at his expense 30ks away to our bus (luckily our tour was an hour late for him!) and we were literally the last passengers back on the ship.

 

There really is no way to do the TrainzAlpine alone, and is a longish day.

Some pics of the trains here:

 

 

cya

bl262000

Edited November 11, 2016 by bl262000