TransAlpine railroad extrawaganza

There's quite a few epic train rides in the world and the TransAlpine on the south island is supposed to be one of those. I had heard a lot of praises about this one and I decided to give it a go. It was the day after the funeral of Mr.Purple and the day was appropriately cloudy, misty and gloomy. Not a good thing when you're supposed to be witnessing some amazing sceneries and even more so since the ticket wasn't exactly cheap.

I boarded the train with all the Chinese tourists and hoped for the best. "Maybe the clouds disappear once we get further from the coast. Bullocks. The visibility was kind of poor all the way to a place called Albert's Pass. Most people take the train all the way from Greymouth to Christchurc (you remember, one of my least favourite places so far) or the other way around in one day but somehow I had decided to make a one night stop in Albert's Pass. When I said "most people" it actually met that I was the only one getting of the train in Albert's Pass. Hahahaaa.

TransAlpine engine. 

Albert's Pass consists of about 10 building. Two cafes, a hostel and some lodges and thats it. One doesn't stay there for the entertainment (non existent) but for the hikes. I still had few hours of daylight so I changed into my "hiking gear" and did 90% of the walks there was to do on that very evening.

Magical forest with leprechauns!
"Where's mi gold?" 

Trees....mmmmm

I got excited about my new camera's effects.

Yet another waterfall AND my rain jacket.

When I opened my eyes the next morning the weather was perfect! Sunshine and singing birds. Not that birds have anything to do with the weather... There was still one hike that I had not done, the avalanche trail. The avalanche trail is the main reason for people to stop in AP and I decided to give it a shot. My train was due to leave at 4pm so I had plenty of time.

The Next Morning. Can you hear the birds?

My hostel was covered with warning signs that you shouldn't exceed one's limits when doing the avalanche trail to the peak. With this in mind I was prepared not to get all the way to the top and as it happens to be, I decided to turn back at some point. I did climb all the way to the snow line which was good enough for me since I don't even have proper hiking boots. The trail got way too dangerous for my ankles so I didn't wanna push my luck too far.

This is the same waterfall but from a bit further away and
higher. 

Some b/w forest  

There it is, can you see. I'm at the snow line!!! 

The wind was really chilly at this height.

All I wanted to say in the end was that I'm so glad I decided to stay one night in Albert's Pass. The weather cleared up during the night and the next day was sweet as! (Kiwi saying)