A 7 day rail pass took us through some of New Zealand's spectacular back country as well as coastal areas that can't all be explored by car.

Ride 1- We left Auckland at 7 am and travelled south to Wellington, a winding trip of 12 hours that stopped directly at the base of "Mt Doom" for a midday break. This train has only 4 passenger carriages with a cafe in one of the carriages and a little outdoor viewing deck in one of the other carriages. Very quaint, old train with interesting bits of commentary every few minutes about the sights and places and train itself.

When we arrived to Wellington it was quite cold, rainy, and windy and the city was humming with anticipation for the coming weekend's Rugby Sevens. Despite our initial fears, our roommates at the hostel were quite pleasant, although way too messy for the tiny room, and we enjoyed the buzz of the city.

We made a quick overnight stop in Waikanae with friends of a friend, Paul and Jilly Martin, an extraordinary couple that had lived in Atlanta for more than twenty years. It was great to swap stories, learn about the old and new New Zealand from their point of view, and share some laughs.

The next leg of our seven day rail pass involved a very large ferry boat ride to get to Picton at the edge of the South Island.

Ride 2- Picton to Kaikorua, a few hours ride traveling south along the eastern coast. Kaikorua is a popular place to see dolphins, whales, and seals. Since we arrived in the early evening and the weather was a little wet, we walked with our packs to the nearest campsite to get situated before exploring the coast a little and searching out a little restaurant called the Black Rabbit which featured delicious pizzas and a gluten free option. Mama Mia!

A very early tent tear down and hike to the harbor was necessary the next morning in order to join a 7:00 whale watching excursion. The seas were rough, but we were lucky to view six different sperm whales while most of the passengers repeatedly tossed up their breakfast and then some into the bags provided by the "safety officer" who really only managed to continuously change out the puke bags just quick enough with no other actual safety concerns Absolutely spectacular to see the whales surface and take some deep breaths before stretching out and diving back down to feed in the deep canyons found off the coast of Kaikorua. Fantastic!

Back on the train to continue along the coast to Christchurch, about four more hours of beautiful scenery. It was a bit of a challenge finding a hostel because it was the start of a holiday weekend so we eventually found a place to tent camp for the night which was only a 30 minute walk from the train station where we needed to return the next morning.

Ride 3- Christchurch to Greymouth, a trip across the south island from east coast to west coast featuring many tunnels and bridges to cross the Southern Alps mountain range that occupies the space between the coasts. Greymouth is a quiet little town, but we really enjoyed the beach of smooth, grey and green rocks and powerful surf. The train ride back to Christcurch the next afternoon was a nice way to catch the scenery that was previously passed over due to napping. No need to name names.