We woke up, took a shower and had a little breakfast. We found out that the party last evening was completely crazy (fights, harassment, stolen/lost credit cards) so we were glad we didn't attend. After breakfast we walked down to the beach, and along the way Andrea saw this..
We walked along the beach and took a few photos.
It was a little misty, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful sea.
We headed back up to the hostel to pack and get back on the bus (today is our last day on the bus, yippie!!) The bus was great and served its purpose, but we were so happy to be done with it. Well, it took a little longer than normal to load the bus due to all the drama last night. We got a little nervous because we had a train to catch.
We needed to get down to Greymouth to catch the TranzAlpine train. The TranzAlpine is supposed to be one of the most beautiful scenic train rides in the world. It travels from Greymouth on the west coast to Christchurch on the east coast going through the Southern Alps. Well, we made it to the train (train was about 30 minutes late) and found our seats. The ride was amazing. The scenery was incredible.
We had a few snacks while enjoying the views. We stopped at Arthurs Pass for a few minutes to breath some crisp, fresh mountain air.
Further along the journey we got our picture taken...
A little helicopter came along and was taking pictures of the train as it passed through the picturesque mountains. We (Andrea) also took some pictures of the train as it passed through the mountains.
The trip was amazing; we saw some amazing rivers, mountains and gorges, we traveled through some amazing tunnels and plains. The sun was setting as we were heading through the Cantebury Plains toward Christchurch and it made for an awesome ending to this incredible train ride.
Back in Christchurch we checked into our hostel and headed out to grab a bite to eat at a local Thai restuarant. The food was great. After dinner we went back to the hostel to watch a little T.V. and get some rest.
Day 151,
We got up early to get cleaned up, pack up, get some breakfast and go get our rental car. We rented a car to spend a few days traveling around to some of the places we really wanted to spend time in throughout the Southern Alps. So off we went in our pretty little...
It reminded me of my little red Ford Focus back in MN. (sigh!) We headed south along the coast because all the ski resorts were closed due to high winds and snow.
After spending a couple of hours heading south we turned west and headed toward the Alps. We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little cafe then spent several hours heading toward Twizel, winding over the rivers on the one lane bridges and meandering through the foothills and mountains.
We arrived in Twizel and found a room at a motel/hostel. We settled into our room, made some dinner and did some planning for next day. We finished off the day doing a little work on the computer before heading to bed after our first day with a car (driving on the left hand side of the road without any incidents).
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