More mountains

On the way up from Franz Josef to Greymouth we stopped at The Bushmans Centre in Pukekura (pop 2 ). It is described in the Lonely Planet as " an overly rustic cafe -shop with a pathological distrust of possums, animal rights activists and Auklanders".  We did enjoy the video about how they caught wild deer. They started out shooting them from helicopters, then, as the deer became rarer and more valuable for venison farming, shooting them with net guns and then jumping from the helicopters to capture them. They are hard men these Kiwis. 

We arrived in Greymouth to catch the trans alpine express. But it was late. So we went for a walk and came across a new memorial to the men who have died over the years in mining accidents. It was somewhat a surprise to see 29 names from 2010. It was the Pike River disaster http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster  Possibly it had been reported in the UK but I am ashamed to say I didn't remember it. 

The Trans Alpine Express is a truly amazing train ride. http://www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz/tranzalpine/

There is a viewing carriage at the rear of the train, so heaven for train buffs. Not good for the hair though.

We arrived in Christchurch rather later than planned, so we did a whistlestop tour of the city. I found it very moving, so more on that later.