On Sunday, we caught the TranzAlpine train for a scenic 4.5 hour journey from Greymouth on the west coast right over to Christchurch on the east coast, before returning a couple of days later.
Through most of the trip, we were treated with some breathtaking scenery, with a large part of the first half (going from Greymouth) being surrounded by stunning hills, mountains and forest, with several little waterfalls visible as they trickled down the mountain sides.
The half way point is Arthur’s Pass where you can jump off the train for about 10 minutes to stretch your legs and take in the scenery. It’s basically a valley in between some surreal looking hills; it really is quite an impressive scene.
The second half of the journey right up to around the final 45 minutes or so was extremely scenic. The train runs along and through the hills, with a beautifully blue river visible down below.
Otira Village
To backtrack a little, the part of the trip that Hannah and I found most fascinating was a little before Arthur’s Pass in the form of the tiny village of Otira.
Otira is miles away from anywhere, completely in the middle of nowhere as it sits between some towering mountains. Although in fairness, it has trains passing through daily that go to Greymouth and Christchurch, so it’s not really as remote as you may first think.
The village consists of 18 houses, a hotel, a fire station, a small train station, a school and even a swimming pool, although I think only the hotel and train station are actually operational out of those. It has a permanent population of 40 hardy souls.
The interesting part though is that the entire village is owned by one couple (Bill and Christine Hennah) and that they are trying to sell! Otira has been on the market for about three years and is valued at $750,000. They recently listed it on TradeMe (like eBay for New Zealanders) which brought them a fair bit of attention, but no news of a sale yet.
So of you want to own an entire village (albeit in the middle of nowhere) then you know where to go!