New Zealand From east to west coast2

1. Coast to Coast by Arthurs Pass

2. Welcome to the land of Aotearoa The Maori call New Zealand, Aotearoa which means “The land of the long white cloud”. New Zealand is located in Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. The official languages in New Zealand are English and Maori. The Capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, located on the North Island

3. Tasman Sea The journey from the east to the west coast through Arthur's Pass is spectacular by road, or rail, and the Tranzalpine train, which makes the journey across and back each day, has an open-air viewing carriage to make the most of the views

4. The TranzAlpine Train The journey from the east to the west coast through Arthur's Pass is spectacular by road, or rail, and the Tranzalpine train, which makes the journey across and back each day, has an open-air viewing carriage to make the most of the views. It's perhaps the most scenic train ride in New Zealand, and one of the most scenic train trips anywhere in the world

5. The TranzAlpine, run by New Zealand train operator Tranz Scenic, runs once daily between Christchurch, Arthur's Pass and Greymouth on the South Island's west coast, through the amazing misty mountain scenery of the Southern Alps. We take the train from Darfield to Arthur Pass

6. From your carriage you’ll see the fields of the Canterbury Plains and farmland, followed by the spectacular gorges and river valleys of the Waimakariri River

10. The Waimakariri River flows for 151 kilometres in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. The river rises on the eastern flanks of the Southern Alps, eight kilometres southwest of Arthur's Pass. For much of its upper reaches, the river is braided, with wide shingle beds

11. A braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load

15. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were introduced from California in the 1900s and persist today

19. Arthur’s Pass is a tiny town on the way to the west coast of the south island. While the west coast town of Greymouth which is only 40 miles away gets over 240 inches of rain a year, Arthur’s pass gets only about 40 inches. Standing in Arthur’s pass you can see the storm clouds over the west coast mountains, dumping their rain before moving over the plains of Arthur’s Pass

20. Arthur’s Pass The tiny alpine Arthur's Pass Village, 154 kilometres from Christchurch, sits in a steep-sided valley on a dramatic mountain pass through the southern alps, the base for climbing and tramping in the rugged Arthur's Pass National Park. Arthur's Pass is the highest pass over the Southern Alps

21. The Kura Tawhiti park, a sacred spot for the local Maori tribe, the Ngai Tahu is located here. There are 53 Maori tribes in New Zealand, but the Ngai Tahu has the largest tribal land area which covers almost all of the south island.

22. This park is famous because of its limestone rocks that stick out of the ground. The Maori often see animal shapes in nature and one of the rocks here looks like the head of a turtle

23. In New Zealand, there are over 18 peaks higher than 3,000 meters (about 9,000 feet) and over 360 glaciers gouge their way downward from these peaks

25. Long before surveyor Arthur Dudley Dobson found his way over the pass in 1864, it was known to Maori hunting parties as a route between east and west

26. The eastern side of Arthur's Pass National Park is characterised by wide, shingle-filled riverbeds and vast beech forests. The western side of the park, where wet weather is more common than dry, has deeply gorged rivers flowing through dense rainforest. Down the middle of 'the great divide' is an alpine dreamland of snow-covered peaks, glaciers and scree slopes

29. Otira viaduct Otira is a small township seven kilometres north of Arthur's Pass. Above the town is the Otira Viaduct. Completed in 1999, it spans a 440-metre stretch of unstable land, replacing a narrow, winding, dangerous road that was prone to avalanches, slips and closures

30. Arthur’s Pass National Park is in the heart of the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. Its high mountains with large scree slopes, steep gorges and wide braided rivers, straddles the main divide – the ‘back bone’ of the South Island – between Canterbury and the West Coast

37. HOKITIKASituated by the sea, the town and area is famous for local artists working in jade, gold, driftwood, timber, clay, shell, bone, fibres and paint! The area boasts talented craft artists; sculptors, jewellers, painters and poets that choose to make this inspirational area their home. Hokitika is also home to the famous Wild Foods Festival, which is held in March each year and attracts visitors from around New Zealand and the world

38. Offering New Zealand's largest range of quality and affordable Pounamu/Jade carvings and sculptures, the carvers at the Jade Factory in Hokitika work exclusively with Pounamu

40. THE BUSHMANS CENTRE Located in the tiny township of Pukekura near Lake Ianthe, this is a really fun place to stop for a driver reviver with a difference! This unique tourist attraction has a cafe that caters for breakfast and lunch, a museum with live possums that you can see and feed, live eels and a wild pig, plus a shop full of interesting and unique souvenirs

41. Pukekura (in Maori translates to Blue hill) west coast's smallest town (population 2) was built in a clearing cut out of tall native Rimu forest

43. Close to the coast and near the rural settlements of Pukekura and Hari Hari, the lake Ianthe is popular for boating, swimming, and trout fishing