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T&KonTour
Friday 11 March, Christchurch to Greymouth
Up at 6.00am for an early breakfast, then pile all the cases, bags and people into Jeff and Marg's 2 cars for the drive to the railway station. The Trans Alpine train left on time at 8.20am with carriages manufactured in Dunedin especially for this tourist route through the Southern Alps. Comfortable seats, 2 restaurant cars, 3 viewing cars which were open to the elements and a bit frigid early on, and an interesting commentary on the history and culture of this part of South Island.
We arrived in Greymouth on the west coast at around 12.30pm, and managed to make our way through the throng to pick up the Thrifty car. A Toyota Previa which can seat 7 but with all our bags in the back it is quite comfortable for 4. Our motel is not ready for us but we dump the bags and head south for a few kilometers to Shanty Town, a re-creation of a west coast gold mining and timber settlement in the 18th century. A working steam train gives a short trip up to a saw mill and Colin & Tony scored a job as stokers on the footplate with the driver. OK, so we didn't shovel much coal but we satisfied every young boy's dream to blow the whistle. Thank you to Suz and Kathy for sweet-talking the guard into letting the boys play with the big train! We resisted the temptation of gold panning, but had an interest time wandering around the old buildings and museum displays.
After a shopping trip around town to pick up a few bits & pieces we enjoyed a simple meal at the Ashley motel restaurant.
Up at 6.00am for an early breakfast, then pile all the cases, bags and people into Jeff and Marg's 2 cars for the drive to the railway station. The Trans Alpine train left on time at 8.20am with carriages manufactured in Dunedin especially for this tourist route through the Southern Alps. Comfortable seats, 2 restaurant cars, 3 viewing cars which were open to the elements and a bit frigid early on, and an interesting commentary on the history and culture of this part of South Island.
We arrived in Greymouth on the west coast at around 12.30pm, and managed to make our way through the throng to pick up the Thrifty car. A Toyota Previa which can seat 7 but with all our bags in the back it is quite comfortable for 4. Our motel is not ready for us but we dump the bags and head south for a few kilometers to Shanty Town, a re-creation of a west coast gold mining and timber settlement in the 18th century. A working steam train gives a short trip up to a saw mill and Colin & Tony scored a job as stokers on the footplate with the driver. OK, so we didn't shovel much coal but we satisfied every young boy's dream to blow the whistle. Thank you to Suz and Kathy for sweet-talking the guard into letting the boys play with the big train! We resisted the temptation of gold panning, but had an interest time wandering around the old buildings and museum displays.
After a shopping trip around town to pick up a few bits & pieces we enjoyed a simple meal at the Ashley motel restaurant.
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