Our train did not leave until 1:30 PM and our checkout was at 10:00 AM. No late checkouts were possible so we stored the luggage and walked around town. There was a pedestrian bridge over part of the harbor. We saw a 2 meter wide ray swim under the bridge. We watched a tiny train driven by a large man with small passengers. The time passed rather quickly and soon we found ourselves back on the train. This leg was 3 hours and it passed through wooded mountains at first, river valleys and salt works next. Then there was a section that where we drove through the vineyards of the Marlborough Region. The mountains are inland but occasionally push to the coast. We had to ride through tunnels when this happened. We saw seals, surfers, SUP boarders, and crayfish shacks along the way. When we got to Kaikura we were happy to see our pre-arranged taxi driver there waiting for us. His name was David and he took us to the AirBnB. A very nice guy.
At least fun is begrudgingly allowed
Picton behind us
Now you can see the inlet
Its as dogs life
Under the water we say a 2 meter wide ray
More of an armored torpedo than a boat
Oxley Time
The little ones are learning by by getting towed by a power boat
Here comes the train!
That is all the train theer is!
Hmmm lip shit
Happy lichen!
Lichen Gnome
Right off the bat we are riding through some big hills
Off we are on the Pacific Coastal Train
It is still very wooded up north on the South Island
The mother ship has landed
This was an odd feature, land slide, mine, mineral deposit???
A swamy area that used to be a river before an earthquake caused the land downstream to rise and now the river doesn't flow anymore
A few creeks
The wine region of Marlborough
More rugged land
In this river valley the river flows slow and is wide
The curves allow the train to thread through these hills
Herds of deer
These vineyards make me thirsty
rows on rows on rows
We see the pacific for the first time at the Wairau River
There are huge lagoons where the river meets the sea
A lighthouse off n the distance
There are salt works here
Lots of evaporation ponds
The green growth must be on the new pond
As it gets saltier the color changes
From grey to pink to red
These are almost ready
Think Pink
The color gradient is cool
Flowers as far as the eye can see
Nice pasture
Wide river valley for when the river is in flood
Now we run along the coast
Some dunes and logs but mostly empty
Curving around the edge of a bay
There are a series of mountain ranges on the inland side
No people as far a the eye can see
Mountains behind us
Not sure why there was this big embanckment build up
More mountains inland
Another river flows from them
The road runs parallel to the tracks
The land was cleared for ranching
Vary beautiful!
Lively rapids
A big scarp
The coast becomes rocky
As the mountains encroach on the sea
These kinds of turns always give me pause.
Tunnels ahead
Broken limestone along the beach
Seals appear
We saw dozens of seals
All along the coast
To the delight of the smaller passengers
A big boulder that looks similar to a ships prow
Little crayfish (lobster) shacks popping up all along the coast
The Pacific is placid
Clifford Bay
No so much surf
So mostly Stand Up Paddle Boards
I am surprised that these folks don't have coffee cups and they seem to be lounging around
The mountains that we pass under are better seen when we have passed them
More on the way
The rivers are in a rush
Swamp Harrier
Kaikoura Bay straight ahaead
Off we go and off goes the train
No time to dawdle this train has a schedule to keep
Nice art on the overpass
This is a beautiful section of the coast.
It has been 231 days since we began our Migration
