Caught a reflection as the train came to a stop this was pretty much what I did for like the whole ferry ride and train trip... it was amazing I still had any room on my memory cards!
This was the car that fascinated me the most! It was an outdoor viewing car which anyone could go up and enjoy. No window glare in my pictures of the trip!
Although the comfy seats with tables and large windows were pretty good competition. They had headphones and screens so you could listen to the area highlights as we went along as well.
While I did enjoy a little while inside the train the beautiful sights soon drove me up to the observation car to nab photographs of the vineyards and upcoming salt flats.
This was a very different feeling New Zealand from Northland that is for sure! The rough mountains had a very cold and wintery feel already and I was thankful for my coat and gloves!
Before we reached the coast we went through some salt flats where they harvest salt right from the sea. The different pools were all different colors as they increased the salinity and then we even saw where the finished product was loaded by augers up onto rail cars.
As pretty as the vineyards and mountains had been I really loved when we reached the coast. This was a rough cold coast with pebble beaches. There were many rivers we were able to see meeting the sea too.
During part of my time in the observation car I was approached by a college age guy who was American. He wanted to see if I would take his picture and then asked if he could tell me his story. Since we had a couple hours on the train I figured why not. Turns out he had come to New Zealand from California for spring break and planned to do a week long tramp on one of the Great Walks. This made me very curious as I knew that spring break was long over by the last week of April normally. He went on to explain that during his tramp he had gotten lost somehow and that he had been rescued after three days wandering around. He told me that before being found he had nothing to eat for nearly 24 hours and was beginning to think he would never get out. Once he was rescued he contacted his professors and decided to extend his trip. He said he just wanted to make sure that I was taking full advantage of my time here because life is short. He also told me to be careful. I assured him that I was living my year to the fullest but that it was a good reminder to be careful. I knew one of the things I wanted to do while on the South Island was an overnight tramp on one of the Great Walks so it was a good reminder that this person who seemed perfectly capable had managed to get himself so lost he had to be rescued.
It wasn't far from Kaikoura I got to see my first seals!! All along the rocky shore we were able to see the fur seals lying on rocks and some swimming in the surf. I was pretty excited and had heard that Kaikoura has a waterfall that is like a baby seal daycare so they were definitely on my list.
After a couple hours of beautiful views we reached Kaikoura, it was about 25 hours after I had left from Whangarei and I was extremely happy to find my room at the Dusky Dolphin Hostel. I made a quick dinner and was asleep very very early that night! After all, I had a big day planned for tomorrow.
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