Riding the Rails

6:15 am - the alarm clock rings

6:30 am - I'm out the door, hitting the streets of Auckland and making my way downtown to the Britomart Train Station.  I was dressed up for the day, to ride the rails.

 Destination: National Park - to and fro in 12 hours.

 With a late departure, we were all aboard to see some of the most incredible scenery... and I almost wish I didn't take pictures, because they don't do the countryside any justice.

All aboard on the Overlander!

 I spent almost 4 hours on the freshair deck, as we rolled down the tracks.  Thankfully the sun came out three hours into the trek.

What did I see:

Rains turn to sun

The largest sheep shearing town in the world, with a huge statue in the town centre to mark the festivities... I mean - work.

Cattle meadering in single file back to the parlor in time for milking.

Twin lambs suckling from their mother on steep slopes overlooking the tracks.

An elderly couple holding hands in the seats next to me, enjoying the scenic pleasures.



 My first snowy mountain peak.

And a glimpse of Mount Ruapehu, which in Maori means "Two Peaks".  It is approximately 1/2 a million years old.... this volcano is the highest point on the northern island.

 The train rattled so much it created a new caligraphy for my letter writing.  :)

 At the National Park, I was the only passenger doing a to and fro so the staff called my name and took me under their wing.  Because of our late departure, I was unable to spend much time at the National Park station.  The train conductors gave me three minutes to take a few snaps and a bit of a breather, before following them to the next train.  Before leaving the first train I was given a bright yellow emergency vest so that I could be easily spotted.  I jumped out... checked out the base of the mountains, then reboarded plane one to follow my two staff through a side door, cross two feet of track, sneak on to train two and depart a minute later.

 This is us coming out of the spiral tunnel... an engineering feat.  Please see the following explanations on my train pamphlet which describes how we climbed one steep hill.

On the way home I had the best views because I knew where to look for them.  We past the sacred mountain, where Maori kings and one queen are buried.  We made good time coming back, even though the signal light system was still malfunctioning.  We returned to Britomart at 7:30 pm.  I stepped outside of the train station and found a bus immediately that would take me close to home for 50 cents.  Yeah, for the skies were starting to darken and drizzle.  8pm... statisfied with my day!