Kiwi Flyer

A slow ride on the lower reaches of the volcanic plateau past Waiouru into Ohakune. Not only is the track winding in places but it seemed we were arriving too early and so they eased off the speed on the straights as well. The heavy snow of the previous week had been washed away but still left evidence in the form of flattened tussock. While the weather was better than it had been further south, most of Mount Ruapehu was obscured by broken cloud offering glimpses of the slopes and peak.

At Ohakune we stopped. First we were told we'd push on to National Park for lunch instead of the scheduled lunch break of Ohakune. The southbound train was running late and in this part of the line there are only a couple of places to pass. Then we were told we'd have a short 15 minute lunch stop (instead of the usual 35 minutes). The onboard cafe closed before we arrived at Ohakune and wouldn't reopen until 15 minutes after we complete the descent of the Raurimu Spiral.

So thinking our time here was short most of the passengers raced across a couple of blocks to the nearest cafe, ordered food/drink to go and raced back to the station. We were all asked to board at the designated time (15 minutes stop). We waited as the train remained at the station. After a while an announced was made that the southbound train was getting further behind schedule and that they wanted to cross over at the Makatote siding. Some 90 minutes after we arrived at Ohakune we pulled out - a far cry from the 15 minutes we were originally told. By now some of the passengers who had not had lunch were regretting their decision to not go to the cafe. At Makatote we had a further 30 minute wait for the southbound train to arrive and switch over the crews. A brief stop at National Park shortly afterwards to pick up some daytrippers and the train was again filled to overflowing. There were even some passengers who'd been "assigned" seating in the small lounge seats at the rear.