I hope it is okay to post a report on a train ride. No flying this time (but watch for some more flying-related trip reports over coming months ;) ).
Auckland to National Park by train I have ridden the train between Wellington and Auckland before, but only at night time – thus missing the magnificent scenery of the central North Island particularly the parts that are not near the highway. I’ve had in mind for some time to do the trip by daytime to enjoy the sights. With the recent announcement that the service is ending 30 September 2006, I realised I would have to act fast while I still had the opportunity. Cross country trains are not fast, nor particularly comfortable, however they all run through great scenery and over some impressive engineering of the 19th and early 20th centuries. So I checked the website and found just 1 date that I could make. Unfortunately there was no availability for the whole trip so I had to make do with a day trip, Auckland to National Park and return. Strange how hard it was to find seats (even full fare) when the service is being closed due to lack of custom. Perhaps, like me, a lot of people have booked to make a trip while they still can. It’s sad how the service has been run down. There used to be 3 trains each way, 2 in the day time and 1 at night, then reduced to 1 day and 1 night, and 2 years ago the night train was stopped. Supposedly the advent of cheap air fares has been the cause, but I suspect another part is due to the incredibly cheap bus fares (and buses stop at lots of places the trains don’t stop). I set out on a stormy winters day, wondering just how much scenery I would be able to see through the wind-driven heavy rain. There is a check in of sorts on the railway platform, to tag bags and get your allocated seats – no pre-selecting seats here unfortunately. As I waited I could hear the rain drum on the skylights modelled as volcanoes, far above us. Britomart is a fairly new station with a strange set up. It is underground yet there are only diesel trains. So there are 4 enormous extraction vents dotting the plaza above. Also the station is a dead end as the city has no underground. But I digress. Check in was slow as we had a full train today, all 4 carriages. We pulled out some 15 minutes late emerging to the gray, wet dawn like a lumbering bear out of hibernation. The first hour is fairly uninteresting as we head through endless industrial estates and suburbs with a few stops to pick up some more passengers. Then through lush countryside, pastures drinking the rain. We wend our way through the wetlands of northern Waikato. Vast acres of trees stand in the swamps and creeks, many are clothed in a body suit of moss. The drooping willows contrast the erect native cabbage trees with their spiky leaves. The odd bird of prey wheels in the middle distance in search of food. The broad slow waters of the Waikato River belie the power of this, New Zealand’s longest river. Today we head almost to the headwaters of the Waikato River, but on the other side of the central volcanoes. We get a brief chance to stretch our legs and get some fresh air in Hamilton. There is barely enough time to race to the station loos and its back on board. Don’t dally as the whistle gives just a few seconds warning the train is about to leave, and cannot be heard inside the station. Once past the city we are in the midst of the vast fertile farmlands of the valleys in the Waikato basin. =================== At first the slopes are gentle and the soils rich. But soon we head into limestone country with rugged bluffs and ravines. The heavy rain is causing some impressive waterfalls and torrents down the hillsides, but fortunately isn’t obscuring the views too much. The going is now slow as the track twists and turns and steadily climbs, only to descend into the next valley. The inland villages of Te Kuiti and Taumarunui look forlorn, a shadow of their past as logging and farming service centres, and important stops on the main trunk line. Taumarunui is world famous in New Zealand as a train stop where you have a tea and a meat pie, and even has a song about it. Alas today the train motors straight through, oblivious to the railway history. By now the country is becoming more open and bleak. The soils are poorer, with many slopes devoted to forestry or left to scrub or native bush. Gorges cut through the land, shaped by the power of water. The train motors on and on. This is the heart of the King Country. So named as a place where for many years Pakeha (Europeans) were forbidden to enter by decree of the Maori King following the bloody land wars of the 1860s. Eventually we reach Raurimu, the start of an impressive engineering feat 100 years ago. In this rugged countryside the engineers had a problem – how to get from the rolling hills of the King Country up the steep slopes onto the volcanic plateau? The solution was ingenuous considering at the time there were no aerial views, poor maps and nowhere that the whole setting could be seen at once. The Raurimu Spiral is a 7km piece of track that climbs 132m on a mountainside where the straight line distance is just 2km. We waited at the bottom for a freight train to descend the spiral, before slowly making the climb. At various points there are views of track just above and also just below, and the small village of Raurimu appears and reappears between cuttings and tunnels. Once at the top, the landscape is vastly different with the acidic volcanic soils restricting vegetation to various tussocks and the lower slopes of the 3 central volcanoes of Tongariro, Nguarahoe and Ruapehu rising above us. The tops hidden in a veil of wind-blown storm clouds. National Park station is a short distance past the spiral but we head a bit further to switch tracks before reversing in behind the train that had already arrived from Wellington. We arrived some 40 minutes behind schedule, but the stop would remain as scheduled. There immediately was a rush for the café with a queue filling much of the small platform. It seems the 3 carriages of the train from Wellington were also full today. Rather than bore you, dear reader, with more of the same I'll skip most of the return trip. Going down the spiral there were quite a few hardy folk braving the mountain chill on the open air platform, getting some good shots as the rain had eased back. Coming back through the King Country the heavy rain of earlier in the day had left its mark with lots of surface flooding and swollen rivers. Fortunately none in this area broke their banks (some did in other parts of the country). The train raced whenever the tracks straightened, to try to make up some of the lost time. But slowed in other areas as speed restrictions where in force due to the danger of debris or water on the tracks. Darkness fell as we headed through northern Waikato into the outskirts of Auckland. The last stretch took a long time and so, despite being only slightly late at Hamilton, we finally arrived back at Britomart nearly an hour late. I have heard tales of how unreliable the schedule is, so anyone contemplating a last trip please do not schedule flights or other transport based on an expected arrival time. So ended an enjoyable day out. I was disappointed at not being able to continue over the volcanic plateau and gorges (with many large viaducts) on the southern side, however the great scenery of the northern half of the main trunk line still made it worthwhile. Oh, if you are curious how National Park got it's name? It is the gateway to Tongariro National Park, which was the first national park in NZ (and one of the first anywhere in the world) following a gift from the local tribe to the crown in order to preserve the taonga (treasure) for all people. |
Great tour Kiwi, thanks
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Excellent report, Kiwi Flyer^ (or should I call you Kiwi Rider? ;)).
Your descriptions took me back to some of the places I visited when I was there earlier this year, and by extension, to my entire wonderful time there... BTW, I will be posting pictures of my trip shortly (just finished culling and editing them; I'm adding captions and will then upload). |
Great report and brings back memories of when I did the trip as a university student years and years ago. Remember standing on the platform at National Park after arriving from Auckland,in the freezing cold in August,sheltering from the driving rain and waiting for the Wellington train which my sister was arriving on. In those days if you took a seat in the smoking carriages you could drink alcohol en route as they had a bar service. No bar service in non smoking carriages!
Sad it will be no more. |
I forgot to mention there is a cafe car where you can buy food and drink. Smokers will find the trip hard as no smoking anywhere, even on the outdoor viewing platform. Hamilton was the only stop in either direction (other than National Park of course) where through pax were allowed to get out briefly. I presume the southern half would be similar with 3 minute stop at Palmerston North.
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Was great news for everyone that Toll Rail decided to keep the overlander running even though on a reduced service and they are going to give it a makeover, which i think is great news for NZ.
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I did the Wellington-Hamilton portion of this journey back in April. It was really enjoyable.
We arrived at National Park, and had a 45 minute break for lunch. We set off from National Park, and were half way down the spiral when we stopped. After a few minutes an announcement was made that we were retruning to National Park 'for operational reasons'. We then had to very slowly reverse back up the spiral and back to National Park. The 'operational reason' was to pick up the idiot who had got on the train going back to Wellington, rather than the Auckland bound train. When I got off the train at Hamilton, there was nothing there. No taxis or buses, and no-one manning the ticket office. You'd normally expect at least a few taxi numbers on the information board. I spent the next hour dragging my suitcase and hand luggage up and down hills trying to find my hotel in the city centre :( Cheers, Rick |
Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
I hope it is okay to post a report on a train ride.
I was about to write "train journey" as opposed to "ride" but it is just a day trip. I do remember riding overnight on the bright yellow Northerner back in 1987. I also got a chance to ride the daylight return on the Silver Fern. Great trip. Played snooker on the fabulous table at the Chateau as well. Regarding liquor service on board, I recall my first ride aboard The Southerner back in 1984 between Invercargill and Christchurch. The seating was quite comfortable - arranged 2-1 - and the leather seats were covered with lambswool. Beer and other libations were served at your seat by a hostess. I was a smoker back then, but I don't remember if I was able to smoke in my seat. I probably was though, because that's the type of seating I would likely have asked for. |
Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
(Post 6189373)
With the recent announcement that the service is ending 30 September 2006.
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Further update, with the government buying back the trains it is a safe assumption this service has been saved.
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The rest of the Overlander service (North Island train between Wellington and Auckland) is written up here.
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