RV, RAIL AND RUNWAYS

When we organised our recent trip to Christchurch, our plan was to drive to Wellington via Napier and Martinborough, ferry to Picton, then drive to Blackball, visit Greymouth, and then head to Christchurch via Arthur’s Pass to deliver the Dethleffs Distinction Trend motorhome to UCC.

For the return journey we had the option of either picking up a relocation vehicle to drive north, jumping on a plane directly for home, or booking ourselves on the Coastal Pacific for the rail journey to Picton and then either flying or taking the Northern Explorer from Wellington to Auckland. A couple of times before, we had tried to fit in the Coastal Pacific train trip after the service resumed on December 1, 2018 – following the Kaikōura earthquake on November 14, 2016 that shut the service down – but to no avail, so that was an interesting option.

Then the thought occurred … why not fly from Picton with