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It leaves Wellington at on some dates, and northbound times vary too, so always check for your date of travel. These cheap fares disappear from the Great Journeys of New Zealand website when it is viewed from a computer outside NZ, so either use the Tor Browser workaround explained below or buy by phone! What you see if you book just using your PC normally :. What you see if you book with the Chrome Hola! Much cheaper prices magically appear! Then go to www. Option 2 , if you don't want to pay for a VPN, use the free Hola!
It's free, but disable Hola when you've finished as if left running it has some vulnerabilities. I use Hola! If it says ' off ', switch it on. Click it and it should say ' Select A Country '. Click ' More It should briefly say ' Browsing from New Zealand ' and then a New Zealand flag should appear top right in place of the Hola! You are now browsing with an NZ IP address!
Cheaper prices may now magically appear which weren't there when you browsed normally Insist on a Starter or Webstarter or abort and book online as above! Lines open Monday-Friday.
Photos courtesy of James Chuang. Comfortable seats , most facing direction of travel, some in bays of 4 around a table, all lining up with huge panoramic windows note the roof skylights too! Seats are not always allocated at booking, but by the train manager before departure. However, if you book by phone or book online and then call KiwiRail's freephone number when you get to NZ and quote your booking reference you can make a seating request. For example, four friends or family travelling together could request one of the few bays of 4 seats facing each other around a table, keen photographers could request a seat close to the viewing platform.
Requests can't be guaranteed, of course, but it doesn't hurt to ask! All your heavy baggage is checked in to the baggage van, only hand luggage may be taken into the seating coaches.
All seats in the new 'AK' cars have power sockets for mobiles, laptops or cameras New Zealand voltage and plug, of course. Larger photo. New Premium class I can recommend a cream tea in the afternoon, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc! Bring cash, as cards are sometimes not accepted if the credit card machine is out of cellphone range. Children must be accompanied. The viewing cars now have additional rails to prevent you leaning out. The Coastal Pacific in the hills south of Blenheim, a photo taken from the open-air viewing car taken before the train was re-equipped with the new AK carriages.
The train isn't called the Coastal Pacific for nothing Also taken before the train was re-equipped with AK carriages. 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 You can spot seals from your seat! Taken from the open-air viewing car. This photo shows new 'AK' cars. Courtesy of Ivor Morgan.
Travel tips 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. 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.
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 northern Picton end of the train close to the viewing platform. 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 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 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.
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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 what used to be a double-decker combined road and rail bridge over the Awatere river, with the railway on top and roadway underneath.
The road deck has been removed now that a separate road bridge has been built. 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 , although work on this coastal section started in the s. Until then, overnight ferries had linked Lyttelton 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 continues along the coast.
Watch out for the seal colonies just feet from the train. 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 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.