New Zealand · Window guide
Which side of the Coastal Pacific should you sit on?
A window guide to the Coastal Pacific (about 350 km, 26 narrated stories), built from the same route data the Rail Journeys app uses to trigger its narration.
Operated by KiwiRail Great Journeys. Rail Journeys of a Lifetime is an independent audio guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any railway operator.
The short answer
- Toward Christchurch: sit on the left — from Wharanui to Oaro the line runs beside the Pacific with the sea on the left heading to Christchurch — the seal colonies, the cliff ledges and the Kaikōura coast are all on that side.
- Toward Picton: sit on the right — from Oaro to Wharanui the line runs beside the Pacific with the sea on the right heading to Picton — the seal colonies, the cliff ledges and the Kaikōura coast are all on that side.
The app narrates each sight automatically as you reach it and says which side to look — this page is the same route, in order, for planning. "Left" and "right" are relative to the direction of travel.
Distances in the tables are measured along the route geometry from Picton and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Toward Christchurch
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Picton | — | Station stop |
| 0 km (0 mi) | Picton & the Marlborough Sounds | Either side | At the northern end of the line, the land dissolves into a maze of drowned green valleys and still blue inlets — the Marlborough Sounds, aro |
| 28 km (18 mi) | 🚉 Blenheim | — | Station stop |
| 28 km (18 mi) | Marlborough: The Vineyard Gateway | Either side | Look out at the neat green corduroy of vines running row after row to the hills — we're crossing the Marlborough plains. |
| 39 km (24 mi) | The Wairau Bar: Where New Zealand Began | Either side | Where the Wairau River spreads out into the sea here, on a low gravel bar beside the lagoon, lies one of the most important places in the wh |
| 52 km (32 mi) | The Awatere & the Inland Hills | Either side | The line leaves the vineyards and swings inland through dry, folded brown hills — sheep country, where the grass cures gold in the summer an |
| 64 km (40 mi) | Lake Grassmere: The Pink Salt Lake | Right side | That shallow lagoon beside the line, sometimes glowing an odd shade of pink, isn't a trick of the light. |
| 120 km (75 mi) | The Clarence Coast: First Sight of the Sea | Left side | After the inland hills, the train tops a rise and there it is — the Pacific, spread blue to the horizon. |
| 128 km (80 mi) | The Coast That Rose from the Sea | Either side | Look at the rocky shore close beside the line — those pale, flat shelves of rock just above the waterline, often crusted with dried seaweed |
| 135 km (84 mi) | Ōhau Point: The Seals That Came Back | Left side | On the rocks below the line near Ōhau Point, look for what seem like scattered dark stones — until one of them moves. |
| 138 km (86 mi) | Nin's Bin: Crayfish by the Sea | Left side | Along the coast road beside the track, watch for a humble little white caravan parked almost on the beach, often with a queue beside it. |
| 145 km (90 mi) | Where the Mountains Walk into the Sea | Either side | There is barely any room here — surf on one side, steep mountains rising almost straight up on the other, and the railway squeezed onto the |
| 150 km (93 mi) | The Billion-Dollar Coast: Putting It Back | Either side | Above the line, the steep slopes still carry raw scars — pale gashes where whole hillsides came down in seconds. |
| 155 km (96 mi) | The Dusky Dolphins | Either side | Keep watching the sea off the coast — and look for sudden splashes, sometimes a whole patch of water churning and leaping. |
| 157 km (98 mi) | 🚉 Kaikōura | — | Station stop |
| 157 km (98 mi) | Kaikōura: Whales at the Window | Either side | Watch the sea out beyond the surf. |
| 162 km (101 mi) | Kaikōura: The Town the Whales Saved | Either side | As we reach the town of Kaikōura, cupped between the mountains and the sea, look for the boats working out beyond the bay. |
| 166 km (103 mi) | Kaikōura's Albatrosses | Either side | There's far more than whales feeding off Kaikōura: the very same deep canyon makes this one of the great seabird gatherings on the planet. |
| 180 km (112 mi) | The Cliff Coast: Riding the Edge | Left side | Look down — straight down — past the edge of the train to the surf breaking on the rocks below. |
| 192 km (119 mi) | The Conway & the Road South | Either side | South of Kaikōura the mountains finally release their grip on the coast. |
| 198 km (123 mi) | Hector's Dolphins | Either side | Earlier on this coast you may have seen dusky dolphins, leaping far offshore in their boisterous hundreds. |
| 230 km (143 mi) | The Line That Took Eighty Years | Either side | Count the tunnels as we go — there are around twenty along this coast, one cliff-cut after another. |
| 245 km (152 mi) | The Hurunui & the Limestone Country | Either side | South of the coast the line turns inland again across North Canterbury, through rolling sheep downs and strange weathered outcrops of pale g |
| 258 km (160 mi) | Moa: The Vanished Giants | Either side | These quiet North Canterbury downs hold a haunting secret in their swamps and caves: the bones of the moa. |
| 277 km (172 mi) | The Giant Penguins of Waipara | Either side | The pale rock breaking through these hills has quietly given up some of the strangest creatures ever found in this country. |
| 285 km (177 mi) | Waipara: The Limestone Wine Country | Right side | North of Christchurch, watch the land lift into low, pale hills, with vineyards spread at their feet — this is the Waipara Valley. |
| 317 km (197 mi) | 🚉 Rangiora | — | Station stop |
| 328 km (204 mi) | The Waimakariri & the Plains | Either side | As we near Christchurch, the train crosses a vast, pale, braided riverbed almost a kilometre wide — the Waimakariri, 'the cold rushing water |
| 333 km (207 mi) | Banks Peninsula: The Drowned Volcanoes | Either side | To the south, beyond the flat plains, a knot of high green hills rises abruptly out of nowhere — Banks Peninsula. |
| 340 km (211 mi) | Christchurch: The Garden City | Either side | Ahead lies our journey's end, Christchurch — the largest city of the South Island, and the most English city in New Zealand, laid out around |
| 347 km (216 mi) | 🚉 Christchurch | — | Station stop |
Toward Picton
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Christchurch | — | Station stop |
| 7 km (4 mi) | Christchurch: The Garden City | Either side | Ahead lies our journey's end, Christchurch — the largest city of the South Island, and the most English city in New Zealand, laid out around |
| 14 km (9 mi) | Banks Peninsula: The Drowned Volcanoes | Either side | To the south, beyond the flat plains, a knot of high green hills rises abruptly out of nowhere — Banks Peninsula. |
| 19 km (12 mi) | The Waimakariri & the Plains | Either side | As we near Christchurch, the train crosses a vast, pale, braided riverbed almost a kilometre wide — the Waimakariri, 'the cold rushing water |
| 30 km (19 mi) | 🚉 Rangiora | — | Station stop |
| 63 km (39 mi) | Waipara: The Limestone Wine Country | Left side | North of Christchurch, watch the land lift into low, pale hills, with vineyards spread at their feet — this is the Waipara Valley. |
| 70 km (44 mi) | The Giant Penguins of Waipara | Either side | The pale rock breaking through these hills has quietly given up some of the strangest creatures ever found in this country. |
| 89 km (55 mi) | Moa: The Vanished Giants | Either side | These quiet North Canterbury downs hold a haunting secret in their swamps and caves: the bones of the moa. |
| 102 km (63 mi) | The Hurunui & the Limestone Country | Either side | South of the coast the line turns inland again across North Canterbury, through rolling sheep downs and strange weathered outcrops of pale g |
| 117 km (73 mi) | The Line That Took Eighty Years | Either side | Count the tunnels as we go — there are around twenty along this coast, one cliff-cut after another. |
| 149 km (93 mi) | Hector's Dolphins | Either side | Earlier on this coast you may have seen dusky dolphins, leaping far offshore in their boisterous hundreds. |
| 155 km (97 mi) | The Conway & the Road South | Either side | South of Kaikōura the mountains finally release their grip on the coast. |
| 167 km (104 mi) | The Cliff Coast: Riding the Edge | Right side | Look down — straight down — past the edge of the train to the surf breaking on the rocks below. |
| 181 km (113 mi) | Kaikōura's Albatrosses | Either side | There's far more than whales feeding off Kaikōura: the very same deep canyon makes this one of the great seabird gatherings on the planet. |
| 185 km (115 mi) | Kaikōura: The Town the Whales Saved | Either side | As we reach the town of Kaikōura, cupped between the mountains and the sea, look for the boats working out beyond the bay. |
| 190 km (118 mi) | Kaikōura: Whales at the Window | Either side | Watch the sea out beyond the surf. |
| 190 km (118 mi) | 🚉 Kaikōura | — | Station stop |
| 192 km (119 mi) | The Dusky Dolphins | Either side | Keep watching the sea off the coast — and look for sudden splashes, sometimes a whole patch of water churning and leaping. |
| 197 km (122 mi) | The Billion-Dollar Coast: Putting It Back | Either side | Above the line, the steep slopes still carry raw scars — pale gashes where whole hillsides came down in seconds. |
| 202 km (126 mi) | Where the Mountains Walk into the Sea | Either side | There is barely any room here — surf on one side, steep mountains rising almost straight up on the other, and the railway squeezed onto the |
| 209 km (130 mi) | Nin's Bin: Crayfish by the Sea | Right side | Along the coast road beside the track, watch for a humble little white caravan parked almost on the beach, often with a queue beside it. |
| 212 km (132 mi) | Ōhau Point: The Seals That Came Back | Right side | On the rocks below the line near Ōhau Point, look for what seem like scattered dark stones — until one of them moves. |
| 219 km (136 mi) | The Coast That Rose from the Sea | Either side | Look at the rocky shore close beside the line — those pale, flat shelves of rock just above the waterline, often crusted with dried seaweed |
| 227 km (141 mi) | The Clarence Coast: First Sight of the Sea | Right side | After the inland hills, the train tops a rise and there it is — the Pacific, spread blue to the horizon. |
| 283 km (176 mi) | Lake Grassmere: The Pink Salt Lake | Left side | That shallow lagoon beside the line, sometimes glowing an odd shade of pink, isn't a trick of the light. |
| 295 km (184 mi) | The Awatere & the Inland Hills | Either side | The line leaves the vineyards and swings inland through dry, folded brown hills — sheep country, where the grass cures gold in the summer an |
| 308 km (191 mi) | The Wairau Bar: Where New Zealand Began | Either side | Where the Wairau River spreads out into the sea here, on a low gravel bar beside the lagoon, lies one of the most important places in the wh |
| 319 km (198 mi) | Marlborough: The Vineyard Gateway | Either side | Look out at the neat green corduroy of vines running row after row to the hills — we're crossing the Marlborough plains. |
| 319 km (198 mi) | 🚉 Blenheim | — | Station stop |
| 347 km (216 mi) | Picton & the Marlborough Sounds | Either side | At the northern end of the line, the land dissolves into a maze of drowned green valleys and still blue inlets — the Marlborough Sounds, aro |
| 347 km (216 mi) | 🚉 Picton | — | Station stop |
Hear it as you pass
Every sight above has a fully narrated, source-checked story in the Rail Journeys app, triggered by GPS at the right moment — and it works with no signal. Get the Coastal Pacific guide