15 Instagrammable places on The Great Journeys New Zealand

Catch the cityscape at sunrise before departure at 7:45 am or the city lights when arriving back to the city of sails at night.

This is one of the most charming viaducts on the Northern Explorer journey; its graceful 201-metre curve is a photo opportunity not to be missed. While travelling on the concrete viaduct, you will also see the abandoned original 1908 steel truss viaduct, which is now used as part of the Ohakune to Horopito Old Coach Road mountain bike route. 

After leaving the Raurimu spiral, the greatest engineering feat of many on the Northern Explorer route, the journey continues to the volcanic plateau. The plateau covers most of the Central North Island but at its tip are the three volcanoes that can be seen from the train, when the weather is favourable. The highest is Mt Ruapehu, then Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro, which make the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing. 

This is one of New Zealand's longest rivers; it is surrounded by white mud stone cliffs (papa) which hold records of climatic change and sea-level variations covering 2.6 million years. The best photos of the gorge are from the up-and-coming viaducts, up first the North Rangitikei Viaduct, 78 metres high and 182 metres long, the second-highest on the line after the Makatote. The next viaduct crosses the Kawhatau River, and it is 74 metres above the river and 182 metres long.  The third of the three concrete viaducts is South Rangitikei, which is the third-highest on the North Island Main Trunk at 75 metres, the length is 315 metres.

Kapiti Coast is best experienced at golden hour, coming into the coast in autumn and leaving the coast in winter. Offshore is the rugged Kapiti Island, and the whole island is a nature reserve under the control of the Department of Conservation. Native flora and fauna have been re-introduced back to the island, including the little spotted kiwi and short-tailed bat.  

Come rain or shine, Marlborough Sounds are one of the most photographic locations in New Zealand. Head to the outdoor decks to experience Marlborough Sounds, the rolling hills, the secluded bays and, if you're lucky, a pod of dolphins might guide you into Picton. 

The Tory Channel is one of the drowned valleys that form Marlborough Sounds. It is also the Interislander's exit from the Cook Strait crossing and the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sounds and the small town of Picton. 

In summer the salt plains at Lake Grassmere turn a pink hue, this alien landscape is natural salt production. The pink to purple colour of the lake is caused by natural microscopic green algae that change to pink in the high salt concentration. The same phenomena gives the Red Sea its name.

Just after midnight on November 14, 2016, the 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake displaced the Papatea Faultine by more than 7 meters. The fault starts offshore and runs across the reopened route of the Coastal Pacific scenic train. After two years of reconstruction, the train now runs through some of the most phenomenal landscapes, a photographic opportunity to discover a new New Zealand.   

The Pacific Ocean runs parallel to the Coastal Pacific train. The train meets the Pacific Ocean at Claverly. This stretch of coastline is home to many species of wildlife, and some mornings, depending on sea conditions, you may see pods of Dolphins herding schools of fish in towards the Bluff ready for their early morning snack.  Three varieties of dolphin can be found in these waters, the dusky, the bottlenose and common dolphins.

After travelling through the Canterbury plains and into Craigieburn range, the TranzAlpine train crosses the Waimakariri Basin and its lakes: Lake Pearson and Lake Sarah. A great place to watch the change in seasons from the vibrant yellow, crisp blue skies and stunning reflections in the autumn to the snow-capped peaks and early sunset colours of the winter.

Travelling high above the Waimak gorge, you get a bird's eye view of the crisp blue glacial-fed waters from the Southern Alps. The Waimakariri is, aside from this gorge, a braided river.

The Mount White bridge over the Waimakariri River, near Cass, is the entrance to Canterbury's largest high country station and one of the most photographed bridges on the journey. At the bridge is where the kayaking section of the famed Coast to Coast race starts.

There are few New Zealand railway stations with a better setting than Arthur's Pass, an alpine village encircled by mountain peaks. The station building is designed to blend with its scenery. Arthur’s Pass National Park covers 90,000 hectares of alpine environments of mountains, rivers, and forests, two-thirds being on the eastern side of the Main Divide and one third in the west. It was created in 1929, the third National Park in New Zealand, following Tongariro and Egmont.

Lake Brunner is Westland’s largest lake, covering 109 square kilometres or 42 square miles. Moana is the largest lakeside settlement. The permanent population is about 70, but it can swell to some hundreds during holiday periods. The Moana Lake Brunner Railway Station precinct is a protected historic area under the Rail Heritage Trust. The precinct includes a station building completed in 1926 and Stationmaster’s house, now the café. It represents the last remaining example of a Type A station, the smallest type of staffed station designed in Edwardian times by New Zealand’s George Troup, designer of the magnificent Dunedin Railway Station. It is the most complete rural precinct of its era left in the country.