There are so many cool ways to see New Zealand: hiking, biking, spelunking. But, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you can also check things out by train and by ferry. There are 2 lines on the south island: The TranzAlpine going east-west between Christchurch and Greymouth, and The TranzCoastal going north-south between Christchurch and Picton. And, there is one line on the north island, the Overlander, taking you between Wellington and Auckland. And, to get you between the north and south island, you can grab the 3 hour mega-ferry, the Interislander.

I reached out to folks at TransScenic Rail which runs it all. They were kind enough to offer me free passes while I filmed. I had the chance to ride with the conductor on the TranzAlpine rail to Greymouth, get to know the staff on all the trains and go behind the scenes on the Interislander ferry.

For this photo essay I pulled a few pics from the film I shot for our Trains and Ferries episode.  If you notice that the photos are a little fuzzy, keep in mind that these were grabbed from film, not from camera.

Enjoy this photo essay of our time on the trains and ferries of New Zealand supporting Blog 4 New Zealand (Blog4NZ).

More Blog 4 New Zealand Goodness!

Check out Part 1: Sailing in Auckland

Check Out Part 2: Abel Tasman Park

Check Out Part 4: Biking Around Christchurch

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Tags: Blog4NewZealand, ferries, New Zealand travel, trains

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 7:00 am and is filed under Jeff's blog, New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.