The Coastal Pacific train journey travels between Christchurch, the South Island's largest city and the delightful port of Picton. This journey is a scenic feast of New Zealand, with the Kaikoura mountain ranges on one side of your train and the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline on the other. The Coastal Pacific travels through 22 tunnels and crosses 175 bridges - one of them being New Zealand's only road-rail bridge. The Coastal Pacific includes an open-air viewing carriage where all your senses are awakened with the clean and fresh sea air.
This leg of the journey crosses the wonderful North Canterbury countryside to the township of Kaikoura. Kaikoura offers dramatic landscape scenes of mountains meeting the sea. Kaikoura is world famous for its resident whale population and whale-watching tours. The more adventurous traveller might wish to get closer to marine life and swim with the dolphins.