CHRISTCHURCH - KAIKŌURA - CHRISTCHURCH

A truly moving heritage train journey of postcard perfect landscapes and rugged coastal beauty where mountains rise to meet the sea and marine life thrives just offshore.

The Whale Train journeys between the mainland’s garden city of Christchurch and the truly spectacular coastal town of Kaikōura. Your heritage train is powered by our retro, red and white, 1950’s classic DA locomotive.

Your journey heads north out of Christchurch into the open vistas and iconic landscape of the Canterbury Plains, before greeting the Pacific coastline of the east coast and your journey through to Kaikōura. Famous for its abundant marine wildlife and famed resident sperm whale population, the seaside town of Kaikōura is a picture perfect destination. The mountains of the Southern Alps, know as the Guardians of the Sea, rise majestically from the deep trenches of the Southern Ocean with railway line wedged in between.