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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

As far from home as I can go

Sorry for the pause - the Sun team in Australia and New Zealand has been running me ragged on my speaking tour down here. I visited Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne & didn't have the chance to take a single photograph. I spent the weekend in Christchurch, New Zealand and spent Saturday decompressing. Christchurch sprawls a little but is charming and exudes Englishness even more than the rest of New Zealand - the photo to the left could just as easily be taken in Oxford.

Sunday I took the TranzAlpine railway from Christchurch to Greymouth, the largest settlement on the west coast of South Island. The train climbs high into the Southern Alps and gives tremendous views of the mountains and mountain pastures before descending through the 8km Otira tunnel to the lush west coast. If you like trains I'd rate it as a must-do, although the return trip I took is maybe a bit much - would be better as a segment of the itinerary to the glaciers than as an excursion. My trip wasn't helped by the fact that the train broke down 3km into the Otira tunnel and we had to reverse back to Otira to await another locomotive...

The combination of the two days was exactly the therapy I needed to overcome the travel and presentation exhaustion I'm starting to feel, though. Christchurch has a pleasantly slow pace of life, is all low buildings and parkland and seemed very liveable. I'd really like to get further south and see the real sights of New Zealand though, like the southern fjiordlands, Milford Sound and the west coast glaciers.

Monday saw me taking the slow route from Christchurch to Wellington. I took the TranzCoastal train and then connected to the InterIsland ferry. The coastal train took in some splendid vistas, not least the beautiful mountains at the coast at Kaikoura. The ferry crossing through the Marlborough Sounds was in brilliant sunshine and gave a close-up view of these northern fjiordlands, but towards Wellington the sea got close to 6 metres in swell. That was it for free time, and the taster has made me hungry for more of New Zealand.

posted at 10:58 AM (UK) | |