Lake Sarah, Southern Alps

This morning at 8am, we boarded the TranzAlpine Scenic train again, this time travelling from Christchurch back to Greymouth.

As the end of yesterday's journey was in darkness, we saw a lot of scenery that we had missed the night before. The mountains were covered in snow, which created the most stunning scenery.

I went into the open air carriage for quite a while, and even though it was very cold (I could see my own breath), it was the best place to take the photo's. And I took lots.

One of my highlights was when my brother, who is a train driver, passed us outside of Cass. We were in the open air carriage hoping to see him. Because he had to go slow pass our train. and being close, he leaned out his engine window, and we had a brief conversation with him. He was towing lots of trucks (wagons) behind him that were fill of coal. How exciting was that!

This photo is of Lake Sarah, situated in the Southern Alps, 122 kms from Christchurch. You will appreciate how cold it is when you see that half the lake was frozen!

We arrived back in Greymouth at 1.10pm, and after having a bite to eat, we headed home.

If you ever have the opportunity to go on the TranzAlpine train, please do so. The carriages are comfortable and quiet, and the staff are exceptional. A wonderful opportunity to see some spectacular high country scenery.