Whether
you're an overseas visitor or a born-and-bred New Zealander,
trains are the best way to travel between New Zealand's three main cities,
Auckland, Wellington and (with a little help from the
Interislander ferry) Christchurch.
Trains are also the way to reach the North Island's
Tongariro National Park, the South Island's west coast at
Greymouth, the whale-watching and dolphin-swimming centre at
Kaikoura or the Marlborough vineyards at Blenheim. See
the route map opposite.
Unlike domestic flights, the trains take you at ground level
past superb scenery that can't be seen by road, in civilised
comfort that cramped and uncivilised long-distance buses
can't match. So ditch that short-haul flight and
actually see New Zealand!
New Zealand's long-distance trains are operated by 'Tranz Scenic',
originally privatised but back in public ownership as part
of KiwiRail as of
2008. This page explains
routes, train times, fares, the best way to buy tickets, and
what there is to see on the journey.
This is an amazing journey, and one
of my favourites, so ditch that domestic flight (or nightmare
bus journey) and ride the Overlander from downtown Auckland to city centre Wellington,
stress-free and in comfort at ground level. Stop off if
you like at the Tongariro National Park. The
"Overlander" is an epic 681 kilometre (423 mile) journey right across the interior of
the North Island, taking you in a single day past every kind of scenery there
is, from coastline to volcanoes to mountains, from lush green
farmland to thick New Zealand rainforest. It will take you the
length of the historic
North Island Main Trunk Railway,
completed in 1908, over such feats of engineering at the
Raurimu Spiral,
Turangarere Horseshoe and Makatote Viaduct. It's one of
the world's great railway journeys, yet costs just NZ$ 129
(£60 or US$88)!
It's one of the
most scenic ferry crossings in the world, and THE way to travel
between New Zealand's North and South Islands. There
are up to 5 daily sailings across the Cook Strait between
Wellington and Picton, crossing time 3 hours. The
08:25 sailing from Wellington and 13:15 sailing from Picton connects with the
Coastal Pacific train to/from Christchurch,
see below.
Above:
The Interislander ferry "Kaitaki" at
Wellington.
Above:
The "Kaitaki" leaves the Cook Strait and enters the Tory
Channel.
Interislander
sailings from
Wellington: 01:55, 08:25, 14:15, 18:15, crossing
time 3 hours.
Interislander
sailings from
Picton: 05:45, 09:50, 13:15, 18:05, 22:05,
crossing time 3 hours.
In Wellington,
the Interislander terminal is a long walk north of the
railway station, but a shuttle bus clearly marked
'Interislander' leaves from platform 9 at the railway
station 50 minutes before each sailing. The journey
time is 5 minutes, the fare is NZ$2 per person, children
under 5 free. Foot
passengers must check in at the terminal at least 30 minutes
before sailing time. All heavy baggage is checked in
so only hand luggage is carried on board. Passengers
connecting with the train to Christchurch can check in bags
in Wellington all the way through to Christchurch.
In Picton, the Interislander terminal is 200m from the station.
All heavy baggage is checked in so only hand luggage needs
to be
carried on board.
The 08:25
sailing from
Wellington & 13:15 sailing from Picton connect with the
Coastal Pacific train to/from Christchurch. You can book
combined Wellington-Christchurch ferry & train tickets
online at
www.tranzscenic.co.nz,
see below. Both these sailings are
normally operated by the "Kaitaki", the largest ferry in New
Zealand waters. The "Kaitaki" may look familiar to
ferry travellers from Ireland or the UK - she started life
in 1995 as the "Isle of Innisfree" on the Irish Ferries
Holyhead-Dublin and Pembroke-Rosslare routes, and later the
P&O's "Pride of Cherbourg" on the Portsmouth-Cherbourg
route!
The
Interislander ferry company itself started life as the Union
Steamship Co, and was later part of New Zealand Railways
before being privatised, hence its close connections with
the train service to Christchurch. Another ferry
company also operates several daily ferries between
Wellington and Picton,
www.bluebridge.co.nz, but these ferries don't connect
with the train to Christchurch.
A voyage on the
Interislander...
The ship sails
out of the Interislander terminal at Wellington and
describes a wide arc out of Wellington harbour, with views
of Wellington's seafront.
It
passes the suburb of Seatoun on the right and exits the
harbour into the Cook strait separating the North and South
Islands. Also on the right are some wicked-looking
rocks, including the Barrett Reef where the
Lyttleton-Wellington overnight ferry "Wahine"
came to grief in a storm in 1968.
The crossing of
the Cook Strait itself only lasts an hour, and at the other
side the ferry passes between narrow headlands into the Tory
Channel. Named after the "Tory", a migrant ship which
passed through the channel in 1840, the Tory Channel is one
of the Marlborough Sounds, a narrow channel between Arapawa
Island on the right and a strip of mainland on the left.
The ship slowly
follows this channel, through an 's' bend, entering the
larger Queen Charlotte Sound and finally arriving at Picton,
a small town and the railhead for the South island.
Above:
The Interislander ferry "Kaitaki" in the Tory
Channel.
Another shot of the ferry
in the Tory Channel.
Above:
The ferry arrives at Picton. The 'Edwin Fox'
museum ship can be seen, with Picton station a
red-roofed cream building just above and to the right.
Above:
The Interislander ferry "Kaitaki" at Picton.
The Interislander ferry and connecting 'Coastal Pacific'
train are easily the most comfortable and scenic way to travel
from Wellington to Christchurch. It's also very cheap, with
inclusive train+ferry fares from just NZ$130.
Originally named 'TranzCoastal', the train was renamed
'Coastal Pacific' when it resumed running on 15
August 2011.
Wellington ►
Christchurch
"The Coastal Pacific" from 15 August 2011
Daily
Depart Wellington
(Interislander terminal, by ferry)
08:25
Arrive Picton (by
InterIslander ferry)
11:35
Depart Picton (by
Coastal Pacific train)
13:00
Blenheim
13:33
Kaikoura
15:28
Waipara
17:30
Arrive Christchurch
18:21
The
Coastal Pacific.
Runs daily from 15 August 2011. One class seating, cafe-bar, open-air
viewing platform.
Update: Earthquake
in February 2011: Both the Christchurch-Picton
'TranzCoastal' and the Christchurch-Greymouth 'TranzAlpine'
were suspended after the earthquake. The TranzAlpine
resumed running on 7 March 2011, the TranzCoastal resumed
running on 15 August 2011.
There are other
Wellington-Picton ferry sailings, see www.interislandline.co.nz,
this timetable just shows the rail-connected sailing.
Christchurch
► Wellington
"The Coastal Pacific" from 15 August 2011
Daily
Depart Christchurch
07:00
Arr/dep Waipara
07:56
Arr/dep Kaikoura
09:54
Arr/dep Blenheim
11:46
Arrive Picton (by
Coastal Pacific train)
12:13
Depart Picton (by ferry)
13:15
Arrive Wellington
(Interislander terminal, by ferry)
Children aged
2-14 travel at reduced fare, Infants under 2 travel
free.
How to buy tickets...
It's easy to buy tickets
online at www.tranzscenic.co.nz,
whether you live in NZ or overseas.
You pay by credit card and simply print out your own ticket.
Or you can call 0800
TRAINS(0800
872467) when you're in New Zealand, calls are
free. From outside New Zealand
you can call 00
64 4 495 0775. There are discounts for anyone
over 60 and for students on the Coastal Pacific, though to get
these you need to book by phone.
New Zealand railpass information.
On board
the Coastal Pacific train...
Comfortable
seating: The Coastal Pacific train has comfortable
seats, arranged in bays of four around tables. All
seats line up with wide panoramic windows.
Cafe-bar:
The Coastal Pacific has a cafe bar serving snacks, drinks,
tea, coffee, wine, beer, spirits and light microwaveable
meals, at reasonable prices. I can recommend the
breakfast roll in the morning (NZ$7.50) and the Devonshire
cream tea in the afternoon (NZ$6).
Viewing
platform: There is a full-length open air viewing
platform, ideal for photographers or just watching the
scenery.
New 'AK' coaches
are due to appear on this train from around September 2011,
featuring massive picture windows and roof skylights, very
similar to Switzerland's famous
Glacier Express.
Seating on the TranzCoastal (now 'Coastal Pacific) is arranged in bays of four
seats around tables...
The Coastal Pacific in the hills south of Blenheim, a photo
taken from the open-air viewing car...
The Coastal
Pacific
stops at Kaikoura, the South Island's whale-watching and
dolphin-swimming centre...
The view from the
window, a stone's throw from the sea...
Spot the
seals from the train!
...98 km of
wild misty coastline! Taken from the open-air
viewing car.
Travel tips...
Shuttle bus for ferry
departures and arrivals at Wellington: The
Interislander terminal is a long walk north of Wellington
city centre, but a shuttle bus (clearly marked
'Interislander') operates from platform 9 at the railway
station 50 minutes before each ferry leaves. The journey time
is 5
minutes, the fare is NZ$2 per person, children under 5 free.
Tickets can be bought with cash or credit card from the
ticketing station. Similarly, a shuttle bus meets each
ferry arrival and will take you to the railway station as
soon as everyone has reclaimed their baggage (although
there's no shuttle bus for ferry arrivals after 9pm).
Check-in & baggage: You
must check in to the Wellington Interislander ferry terminal
at least 30 minutes before departure. At the ferry
terminal, all bags except hand baggage must be checked in.
If you're connecting with the Coastal Pacific train, you can
check your bags all the way through to Christchurch.
Similarly, when checking in at Christchurch, you can check
your bags all the way through to Wellington Interislander
ferry terminal. Your bags will automatically be
transferred between ferry and train at Picton, and you
reclaim them at your final destination, either Wellington or
Christchurch.
Free shuttle bus for Coastal
Pacific departures from Christchurch: Heading
north from Christchurch to Wellington, a free
Tranz-Scenic shuttle (shuttle = shared minibus taxi) operates to a set
timetable from most hotels and guesthouses in central
Christchurch out to the railway station to meet the
Coastal Pacific departure for Picton and Wellington.
There's no need to book, just ask your guesthouse (or freephone and ask Tranz Scenic) what time the shuttle leaves
which hotel. It departs between 05:55 and 06:40, for example, it leaves the
Croydon B&B on
Armagh Road at 06:07 to connect with the Coastal Pacific's
departure for Picton & Wellington. Heading south from
Wellington to Christchurch, there is no free shuttle meeting train arrivals
in Christchurch, but a fleet of normal shuttles to the city
centre will be waiting for the train and cost about NZ$6 per person.
Make a seating request: If you book by phone (or
book online and then call Tranz Scenic's freephone number when you get
to NZ at least the day before travel, quoting your booking
reference) you can make a seating
request. The obvious request to make is for seats on
the left-hand side of the train going south from Picton, or
the right-hand side coming north from Christchurch, as this
puts you on the coastal side of the train where most of the
scenery is. Keen photographers
could also request
seats at the front of the train close to the viewing
platform. Requests can't be guaranteed, of course,
but it doesn't hurt to ask!
The journey
aboard
the Coastal Pacific ...
The 3 hour, 92km crossing of the
Cook Strait is one of the most scenic ferry rides in the
world. You sail in a wide arc out of Wellington
harbour and across the open sea of the Cook strait itself,
before passing between headlands into the Tory Channel,
named after the migrant ship 'Tory' which navigated the
channel in 1840. The ship
follows this narrow channel between the island of
Arapawa and the mainland, all the way to Picton at the head
of Queen Charlotte Sound.
At Picton, the station is just a
200 metre walk straight ahead of you. Look out for the
'Edwin Fox', a preserved 19th century sailing ship in a
museum on the left. It's the ninth oldest wooden
sailing ship in the world, and you can see it
from the road even if you don't have time to go in to the
museum. At the station, the small wooden station building now
houses a 'Subway' fast food place, a travel agency, and a
small check-in desk for the train. Seats on the train
are allocated there.
The train leaves Picton station
and curves around valley out of the town. Within half
an hour you're in the middle of vineyards in the Marlborough
wine region. You'll pass one of the main Montana
wineries, with its huge stainless steel tanks. The train calls at Blenheim, the region's
main town.
Soon after Blenheim, the train
climbs hard up a long gentle pass through grassy hills.
Within an hour of leaving Picton,
snow-capped mountains appear in the distance on your right,
and you pass over the
unusual double-decker combined road and rail
bridge over the Awatere river, with the railway on top and roadway
underneath. There used to be several such bridges on
this line, until new road bridges were built. Indeed a
replacement road bridge is now under construction next to
this one.
Just over an hour from Picton you
skirt Lake Grassmere. Salt is produced here, by
letting sea water evaporate in large salt pans. You'll
see piles of harvested salt on the right.
About an hour and a half after
leaving Picton the train reaches the sea. It now runs
right along the coastline for about 98 km. You'll see
beaches, cliffs, rocky headlands, in places draped with
low-lying sea mist.
Although parts of the line are
much older, the Picton-Christchurch railway was only
completed in 1945, although work on this coastal section
started in the 1930s. Until then, overnight ferries
had linked Lyttleton (the port of Christchurch) direct with
Wellington.
The train stops at Kaikoura, the
South Island's main whale-watching and dolphin-swimming
centre. The whale-watching centre is now housed in the
old station building. the train stops for several
minutes here and you can get out and stretch your legs.
The train continues along the
coast. Watch out for the seal colonies just feet from
the train. the seals tend to be the same colour as the
rocks, but with a bit of practice you can spot huge
numbers of them!
Just over 3 hours from Picton, the
train swings inland again, through green hills and pretty
valleys.
The train passes through the
Christchurch suburbs and arrives at Christchurch station.
This is now a small modern single-platform rail terminal,
opened in 1993 in an unremarkable industrial estate built on
what was once the massive Addington Railway Works.
Much of New Zealand Railways' locomotives and rolling stock
were once built there, although there's little left to show
for it..! The new station is some 3km from the
city centre, but taxis and shuttles (shared minibus taxis)
are available.
Christchurch's original
station (well, the building opened in 1960 though built
to a design first published in 1938)
still stands on Moorhouse Avenue to the south of the
city centre where it is now the 'Science Alive'
entertainment centre.
Christchurch
- Greymouth on the "TranzAlpine"...
The Tranz-Alpine is the most
scenic train journey in New Zealand, and one of the most
scenic train trips in the world. Not surprisingly, it's
become the most successful of all the Tranz
Scenic train services, very popular with tour groups
because of the spectacular crossing of the Southern Alps
between Christchurch and the South Island's west coast at
Greymouth. It's a fantastic trip, though in my opinion not as epic
or historic as
the Auckland-Wellington 'Overlander'.
Once important cities, Dunedin and Invercargill have
declined in importance and apparently no longer justify a
proper train service
to the rest of New Zealand. The last
Christchurch-Dunedin-Invercargill train service, the daily
"Southerner" over the South island Main Trunk Line, was
withdrawn in 2004. Nowadays, anyone wishing to
reach these towns must endure a long bus journey from
Christchurch. Here are
the main bus services, although an additional bus may run on
Fridays and Sundays. Please check times before
travelling at the bus operator websites, www.intercitycoach.co.nz.
Christchurch ►
Dunedin ►
Invercargill
Bus service:
Daily
Daily
Operator:
InterCity
InterCity
Depart
Christchurch
08:00
14:00
Arr/dep
Timaru
10:30
17:00
Arr/dep
Oumaru
12:05
18:15
Arr/dep
Denedin
13:45
19:50
Arrive Invercargill
17:40
-
Invercargill ►
Dunedin ►
Christchurch
Bus service:
Daily
Daily
Operator:
InterCity
InterCity
Depart Invercargill
-
08:45
Arr/dep
Dunedin
07:45
12:50
Arr/dep
Oumaru
09:30
15:00
Arr/dep
Timaru
11:20
16:20
Arrive Christchurch
13:45
18:40
Fares & how to buy tickets...
Christchurch-Dunedin costs
NZ$33-$46. Christchurch-Invercargill costs NZ$35-$67. You can check fares and book
bus tickets online at www.intercitycoach.co.nz.
There were never any train services to Queenstown, although
historically you might have taken a slow train from
Invercargill to Kingston (the preserved "Kingston Flyer" train
uses part of this route, or did until the preservation company
went bankrupt), then a steamer across Lake Wakatipu
to Queenstown, a route on which Queenstown's famous 100-year
old working steamship "Earnslaw" would have worked.
Today, there are bus services operated by several companies.
You need to change buses and overnight in Queenstown if you
are travelling to/from Milford Sound.
The Taieri Gorge Railway 'Track &
Trail' connection...
The most rewarding way to travel between Dunedin and
Queenstown is via the Taieri Gorge Railway's "Track & Trail"
train/bus link. The Taieri Gorge Railway (www.taieri.co.nz) is a preserved
railway running daily year-round tourist trains through spectacular
scenery over part of the old Dunedin-Cromwell branch railway.
Leaving from the beautiful and much-photographed 1906
railway station in Dunedin's town centre, it travels a few kilometres south over the
South Island Main Trunk Line (still well-used for freight but sadly
with no passenger service) before branching off inland through
the scenic gorge that gives the line its name. The train
terminates at Pukerangi (58km from Dunedin) and a minibus connection
takes pre-booked passengers onwards to Queenstown.
Highly recommended..!
Dunedin ►
Queenstown
Train+Bus service:
Daily
May-Sept
Daily
Oct-April
Depart
Dunedin by train
12:30
14:30
Arrive
Pukerangi by train
14:35
16:35
Depart Pukerangi by bus
14:45
16:45
Arrive Queenstown
18:45
20:45
Queenstown ►
Dunedin
Train+Bus service:
Daily
May-Sept
Daily
Oct-April
Depart Queenstown by bus
10:00
12:00
Arrive
Pukerangi by bus
14:30
16:30
Depart Pukerangi by train
14:45
16:45
Arrive Dunedin by train
16:30
18:30
Fares
Dunedin - Queenstown
(combined track & trail fare)
NZ$ 115 adult, NZ$58
child
Fares & how to buy
tickets:
To check fares
and buy tickets, contact the Taieri Gorge Railway on
www.taieri.co.nz or call (03) 477 4449.
Above: Dunedin's
magnificent station...
...inside the main hall.
Above: A scenic ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway,
for the daily onward bus link to Queenstown...
Above: The connecting bus meets the train
and takes 'Track & Trail' passengers to Queenstown.
There is an
excellent Tranz Scenic Railpass giving unlimited travel on
all Tranz-Scenic trains, and (if you buy the ferry-inclusive
version), the Inter-Island Ferry between Wellington and
Picton. If you're going to travel on all 3 trains from
Auckland to Wellington, across on the ferry and down to
Christchurch and on to Greymouth, the 7-day pass makes a lot
of sense. To buy online in the UK, see
www.internationalrail.com. For more information, see
www.tranzscenic.co.nz.
Once you have a railpass, it's easy to make seat
reservations to go with it simply by calling Tranz Scenic on 0800
TRAINS(0800
872467) or from outside New Zealand, 00
64 4 495 0775.
7-night
holiday covering three of New Zealand's great train rides
plus the inter-island ferry...
Tailor-made holiday specialist Railbookers
(in the UK, www.railbookers.com,
020 3327 0761, or in Australia, www.railbookers.com.au,
02 8096 0550) can arrange holidays
around New Zealand using train travel rather than buses or
flights. A 7-night trip from Auckland to Wellington on
the Overlander, Wellington to Picton on the inter-island
ferry, Picton to Christchurch on the Coastal Pacific, and
Christchurch to Greymouth on the 'TranzAlpine' starts at
around £719 per person excluding UK-NZ flights.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Personal recommendations...
In Auckland, the
Airedale Hotel or
Mercure
Hotel are both sound
central choices, the latter right near the Britomart station
and Devonport ferry terminal, though not the cheapest options. In Wellington, the
Shepherds
Arms is a 15 minute walk from Parliament and the city
centre but has friendly staff, great food and good beer, as
it's a gastro pub. In Christchurch, the
Croydon B&B
is a wonderful place to stay, though has been badly damaged in
the February 2011 earthquake.
Other hotel sites
worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the
main hotels, and it has the low-down on destination sights &
attractions, too.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
Backpacker hostels
in New Zealand...
www.hostelbookers.com: If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about backpacker hostels. Hostelbookers
offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in
many places in New Zealand at rock-bottom prices.
Make
sure you take a good guidebook. The Lonely Planets
and Rough Guides are easily the best out there for the independent traveller.
Both guides provide an excellent level of practical information and historical
and cultural background. You won't regret buying one of these
guides..!
Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable
insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover
cancellation and loss of cash (up to a limit) and belongings.
An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
Columbus Direct or
Go Travel Insurance, or go to
Confused.com to run a price comparison on a whole range of
travel insurance providers for your dates of travel, seeing
their policy's features at a glance..
Get a spare credit card, designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up a £1,000 bill
in data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. It
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also works for laptop or PDA data
access. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
Overland travel
around New Zealand by train & bus is an essential part of the experience,
so once there, don't cheat and fly, stay on the ground!
But a long-haul flight might be unavoidable to reach New
Zealand in
the first place. For flights to
Auckland, start with
Air New Zealand, then search more airlines with
www.e-bookers.com. Most long-haul flights go to Auckland
because Wellington airport can't handle the largest
planes. So ditch that connecting domestic flight to
Wellington and take the
Overlander train instead, for the rest of your life
you'll be glad you did! Seat61 gets a small commission through this link.
The
Auckland-Wellington "Overlander"...
The Tranz-Alpine is the most
scenic train journey in New Zealand, and one of the most
scenic train trips in the world. Not surprisingly, it's
become the most successful of all the Tranz
Scenic train services, very popular with tour groups
because of the spectacular crossing of the Southern Alps
between Christchurch and the South Island's west coast at
Greymouth. It's a fantastic trip, though in my opinion not as epic
or historic as
the Auckland-Wellington 'Overlander'.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If
you're resident in
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try
If you're resident in the USA or Canada, try
