Took a shuttle to the Christchurch train station and the train to Picton. Walked to the ferry and took that across to Wellington, then took a shuttle to the Wellington train station, which is adjacent to the central bus terminal. Took the number 7 bus to Victoria Street and walked three blocks to the motel. About 12 hours total.

The trains have been outfitted with all-new carriages. I’m told they’re quite nice. The one I was on had the old carriages. Nice enough, though. It was like Amtrak in the ’70s, before it started to fall apart. One noticeable difference is that they don’t slow down when they go through a town.

The Coastal Pacific line travels along the coast from Christchurch to Picton, which is near the top of the South Island. Most of the way it looks a lot like California, with farms and ranches, and brown hills beyond. Plenty of oak, cypress, and eucalyptus trees. The beaches were a bit rockier, the ocean was a bit greener, and sheep were more plentiful, but otherwise it was very California-like.