August 2019^13
I had, one carriage with lots of other people with the
same objective of capturing this Winter wonderland
that just went on and on – I knew this area had hoar
frost but I had no idea the area it covered was so
large so it was the biggest and best surprise of the
day. The best image I got was when we went over
the Broken River bridge, a quick couple of snaps and
I managed to get something stunning.
Once at Arthurs Pass, we got the first opportunity to
exit the train and stretch our legs on the platform
before the darkest part of the trip; the Otira Tunnel.
This tunnel starts at Arthurs Pass and exits the mountain
8.5km later (roughly a 20minute journey) and has a
gradient of 1 in 33 meaning that for every 33 meters
you travel you either gain or lose 1 meter in height.
Construction on the bridge started in 1907 and
finished 11 years later in 1918. At that time it was
the 7th longest tunnel in the world, an incredible
achievement in that day and age.
Upon exiting the tunnel on the West Coast side
we entered into a lush green rainforest beside the
Rolleston River. It left me marveling at how it’s possible
such a stunning location with a scenic railway right
beside it can exist.
Heading towards the old railway town of Otira, the
river changes from the Rolleston to the Otira to the
Taramakau before we take a right-hand turn and
head towards Moana, a small township on the shores
of Lake Brunner where some passengers disembark
and others join us.
Lake Brunner is small, you get a view of it before you
get to Moana and a quick view as you leave, but it
was enough to whet my appetite, a place I would like
to go back to and explore with my sea kayak on a
calm day as the reflections looked like glass from the
train.
By now we’re almost 6 hours into our journey and
approaching our final destination having passed
through many different photo-worthy landscapes.
At Stillwater, a small village on the edge of the Grey
River, the view is spectacular from the railway track;
limestone shaped walls with a deep river running
through it that draws in the white water kayakers and
other visitors who want to see the site of the Brunner
Mine, the place where 65 people were killed in 1896.
Once into Greymouth, our final destination, I had a
1-hour break before I was back on the train for the
reverse journey. To go there and back in 1 day it’s
a 13 hour journey so I do recommend staying a few
nights to split the journey up a bit and give yourself
more time to see what Greymouth and the west coast
has to offer.3 TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING ON A TRAIN
JOURNEY.- Have your shutter set to burst mode so that you
don't miss the shot. - Have settings as if you were taking sports images
so a very high shutter speed to take into account
that the train is travelling at a speed. - Since your shutter speed is so high you need to
compensate that with your aperture. F4 to F5 will
be enough to have plenty in focus without it being
too dark.
F7.1, 1/800s, ISO