January 14-16, 2024

We’d been looking forward to this next leg of our journey as we’d decided to book the Great Journeys New Zealand scenic train from Picton to Christchurch.  Instead of taking the bus, this option promised a more comfortable six-hour journey with some great scenery to behold.  It would be more expensive than the bus at $108 per person, but we all agreed it would be worth the expense.  Later, I would receive an email from the firm offering an upgraded experience, one that would put us in a dedicated coach with an unlimited food and drink offering that would elevate our enjoyment.  This ran us an additional $125 per person but all agreed it would be worth it none the less, so we committed to that as well.

Our train wasn’t scheduled to leave until almost 2pm and we’d be boarding it with an air of disappointment in that we’d received an email two days earlier that advised:

“Due to a fault with our Kitchen carriage on our Scenic Plus from Picton to Christchurch 14 January 2024 our dining service will not be operating.

We can still seat you in the same carriage and you will have access to the café carriage to purchase Food & Beverage.

You will receive the difference in fare from Scenic Plus to Scenic as a refund back to the source of payment if you choose to take this option, or if you would like to cancel you will receive a full refund.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

So, the downside was no unlimited food and drink, but this was offset by two upsides, the first the complete refund of our upgraded fare and second, we still got to sit in the better carriage, so all in all, we came out OK on the deal. 

After checking out of the motel and as we were not sure how much food we could expect to buy on the train, we stopped in at the Seabreeze Café for a hearty breakfast.  They had an interesting sounding item on the menu, Corn Fritters, and so Joanna and I would each order them as part of our meal, for her the Corn Fritter and Bacon (home-style gluten-free corn fritters with fresh tomato salsa and NZ free-farmed streaky bacon) and for me as part of the Vegetarian Breakfast (Free range eggs, grilled tomato, spinach, mushrooms, and corn fritter with whole meal sourdough toast).  It was all filling and very good, the fritters an interesting treat and as usual, reasonably priced at $61.80NZ ($40) including the two latte’s that we consumed. 

Finished with eating and with a bit more time to kill before our scheduled departure, this meant rambling the main street ducking in and out of the touristy gift shops that populate that area, joining the throngs of cruise ship passengers set free for the afternoon from their self-imposed shipboard imprisonment.  Soon enough it was time to head to the station to catch our train. 

And it was a very nice ride down the coast, passing inland in some instances but mostly gazing out at the sea from one set of windows and at farmland and estuaries out the others.  Between the five of us we purchased and consumed a few bottles of sparkling wine and thus arrived at the station in Christchurch in fine form. 

There we quickly connected with a couple of Ubers to take us to our Airbnb for the next three nights, Easy Christchurch Central Townhouse.  At $27.92 per person per night, it would be the least expensive stay of the trip besides our last one in Sydney and given its central location, it was everything we could have asked for.  We settled in and unpacked and later Joanna and Bev would make a run to a market for supplies while Kim and Marty grabbed dinner at a chicken joint nearby.  It had been a good day of travel. 

The next morning, we set out for the Avon River as Marty had booked through Viator the Christchurch Gondola and Punt Ride, a combination of two activities.  As usual, we had to take two Ubers to the boathouse on the Avon and this time, Bev accompanied Kim and Marty.  Through no one’s fault, our ride was delayed, and we didn’t arrive at the boat house until after they had boarded their punt and were out on the river.

Rain had been threatening the whole morning and when we arrived the heavens opened with a torrential downpour.  While we pondered whether it would be worth it to head out for a sure drenching, the operators offered us a refund should we decide not to go out.   But, in a stroke of good fortune, just as we were about to take them up on the offer, the rain lessened, and we boarded a punt for our trip up and down the river. 

It recalled for me a time in 1979 while Rendy and I were hitchhiking around England and spending a couple of nights in Cambridge.  We’d been on the road for a couple of weeks, starting in London and then heading north to Norwich (we heard it was a center for real ale at that time).  After a few nights in London at a pension, we’d camped in the northern suburb of Chigwell and endured constant rain, a plague that would follow us for most of our month in England.

So, we were shacked up in a youth hostel which was good because it was cheap and indoors and bad because rules of the house dictated that the doors closed at 10pm, not ideal for two guys that liked to spend time in pubs getting to know the locals.  This would come to haunt us a couple of times during the trip, and we would need to prevail on the good nature of said locals to let us spend the night on the floor of their flat until we could get back inside the hostel to claim our gear.  One distinct memory of that time in Cambridge is a picture I took of punts on the river, the lush greenery surrounding it a testament to the amount of rain the area receives. 

As the other three beat us back to the dock, they already snagged a table at the café next to the boathouse and were part way through their snacks and drink, so we quickly ordered for ourselves just enough to get us through the afternoon onto what we hoped would be a special dinner later that day.  We’ll cover that and more in the next post. 

Links

Great Journeys New Zealand: https://www.greatjourneysnz.com/

Seabreeze Café: https://www.seabreezecafe.co.nz/

Easy Christchurch Central Townhouse: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/39840259?source_impression_id=p3_1715207033_W17jtJ%2FlYt4nGXMO

Christchurch Gondola and Punt Ride: https://www.viator.com/tours/Christchurch/Christchurch-Gondola-Ride/d400-3352GONDOLA