Up for an 8.15am departure from Christchurch - the transalpine route involved an assent from sea level on the East coast to 2000ft where we had a quick 5 minute stop to stretch our legs then we descended back down to sea level on the west coast. Sorry to use the 'a' word again but we were blessed with good weather and the views across the south Alps really were awesome.

As with most of NZ at the moment, everything is completely booked up and the train was packed. We were lucky to get forward facing seats, but unfortunately surrounded by a large Chinese family who insisted on shutting their curtains to sleep and hence blocking our view - hard to believe on one of the world's most iconic and scenic train journeys! However we eventually managed to convey our dismay and so curtains were opened and we also got some spectacular views from the viewing platform and buffet car.

Arrived in Greymouth (adeptly named) walked around the main town and down to the sea (Tasman Sea). Had an early night and not much to say about Greymouth we're afraid - its only redeeming feature was that it actually had a 'Sock Machinery museum' …. And NO we didn't visit!

Looking forward to our trip along the coast to the Franz Josef glacier.