Between mountains and sea

Jo Ferris discovers the beauty of KiwiRail’s Coastal Pacific train journey and marvels at Kaikōura’s restoration — by man and Mother Nature.

Having completed a roadie from Picton to Kaikōura during the coastal corridor’s massive repair after the devastating earthquake in 2016, this train journey was on the “to do” list.

Seeing the rail track so close to the road was incentive enough to imagine the relaxed comfort of a train to embrace the scenery.

Gazing out the big glass windows is one thing; standing in the bracing wind of an open-air observation carriage is a different experience altogether — better for photographs, lousy on the hairdo.

The journey began before dawn in Christchurch with a taxi ride to Addington Rail Station.

In Christchurch to catch up with buddies who were visiting for a sports event, I seized the opportunity to ride the train.

The Coastal Pacific is one of KiwiRail’s three Great Journeys of New Zealand — 274km between Christchurch and Picton, 175 bridges and 22 tunnels.

The idea was a one-day return, with lunch somewhere near Picton harbour then back to Christchurch that night, roughly a 12-hour round trip.

Careful to request a window seat on the seaward side, my only lapse was realising the return trip faced inland.

While the hinterland is picturesque and a considerable part of the entire journey, the 98km coastal leg either side of Kaikōura is the most spectacular.

Squeezed between mountains and the sea, the rail track handshakes with the road in several places.

Coming face to face with passengers in Maui vans, truckies and holidaymakers, close encounters become a honking of horns and cheery waves.

Passing within cooee of homes in seaside villages and backyard housing on the outskirts of larger towns, locals also enjoy their daily contact. Train spotting is obviously a favourite pastime.

Apart from the relaxation of the trip itself, it’s also informative.

Headphones invite travellers to tune into a recorded documentary at various intervals.

You learn that the Canterbury Plains are the most ecologically affected in the country; that rivers are snow fed from the glacial headlands in the Southern Alps; that “climate change” actually dates back more than 5000 years, when “climatic changes” affected the area’s vegetation; and that the unusual patterns of Canterbury’s rivers are dubbed braided channels due to the watery threads.

The landscape’s history is as fascinating as the towns.

None more so than learning about Parnassus and its infamous cocktail — devised by Cheviot’s pioneers because it was a “dry” area.

How’s this for bravery: a concoction of methylated spirits, Baxter’s lung preserver and Worcestershire sauce! Hardly nectar of the gods — from which Parnassus was named.

Apparently, a nearby hill bears a similarity to a Greek mountain that was the mythical home of the god Apollo and muses. History is a marvellous thing.

Chugging between Canterbury and Marlborough, the landscape changes from rich farmland and rivers of the plains to a coastline and subsequent vineyard-clad slopes of New Zealand’s largest wine area.

Marlborough is also New Zealand’s home of salt.

At around 1500 hectares, Lake Grassmere holds a unique position by the sea and has the ability to harness sunlight.

Carved into a mosaic of settling ponds years ago, sea water is pumped in and left to nature, the sun and winds.

As the water evaporates, only salt remains, which is harvested and distributed by Dominion Salt here and overseas.

The sea also plays a huge role in the quality of Marlborough’s wine.

Awatere is just 10km from the ocean — an aspect that instils a richer taste to the grapes grown on the surrounding slopes. Everywhere you look, vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see — right to the sea.

Nowhere is the sea more visible and had more impact on an area, however, than atKaikōura.

The foreshore changed forever when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake heaved the seabed up nine metres in places.

Devastating Ohau’s seal colony and inland nursery, crayfish and pāua beds for several years, anyone who didn’t know the coastline pre-earthquake would have no appreciation of how much things changed.

At times Mother Nature shows no mercy.

But she also forgives and repairs; in some ways better, perhaps.

Life in Kaikōura is almost back to normal.

No one really knows how the resident sperm whales were affected, but the seals adapted, and crayfish and pāua are back on the plate with the return of the legendary Nin’s Bin on this exquisite coastal highway.

There’s a new outlet on the block too — along with various new lookout points guarded by carved pou and information boards commemorating the massive repair of both the road and rail along this extraordinary coastline.

This is a fantastic trip.

Cherish it as a one-day return. Divide it in two and explore Picton. Enjoy it one way as a great South Island experience. Stop off at Kaikōura for a few days and marvel at this precious, beautiful place.

However, you do it — just do it.

The Coastal Pacific is truly one of this country’s great journeys.

MORE:

www.greatjourneysnz.com

www.kaikoura.co.nz

www.visitpicton.co.nz