This train trip took most of an entire day. We spent some time in the morning at the Chateau playing snooker and getting lunch. We got to spend some time talking with Alok. He was the guy who helped us with our luggage and he is a kindred spirit. A fellow traveler who came from Vancouver to New Zealand for work and has many travel plans. We boarded the train at 1:15 after talking with Joseph from Sydney for an hour. This time there were more people getting on the train that at Otorohanga. Our seats were OK but we spent more time in the viewing carriage than in our seats. The viewing carriage was open to the elements and smelled a bit of diesel but it was grand fun. We had dust and bits of vegetation all over our windblown selves. The path was generally downhill and we had another spiral system to travel through. Once we broke out of the river valleys and we could see the sea, we knew our ride was coming to a close. We were almost an hour late due to and engine change in Palmerston North and the speed restrictions on the new section of track. The new track was put down to fix the track that was washed out by Cyclone Hale last week.
I have no idea what I am doing!
Alok, such an enjoyable person
Still beautiful outside
The train stations are generally small
Joseph is an entirely different kind of traveler than we are. He seems to go where the wind takes him
We passed some big gorges right off the bat
Several impressive viaducts were needed to get past the volcanoes . This one had been replaced by the viaduct we were riding on
The sheep run from the train
We are in the open observation carriage
Run Sheep Run!
I thought this was a bird's nest but it may be a plant
Another impressive volcano
Sculpted hills
The track off to the left as part of a big spiral. The train made loops to lessen the grade of the track while descending from the volcanic highlands
The vegetation is changing with the lower altitude
Herds of deer
Entire houses on the move
No reduction in the amount of sheep
I thought this may be another relic bridge but our train went right over it
Winding our way through these hills
More deer just hanging out
A town that loves its boots!
The banks of the Rangitikei River are steep
The wool is plentiful
We alternated traveling on different sides of this river
So we got to pass over it many times
Each time is it was beautiful
The banks were very tall
and the river runs fast
Beautiful country
An asparagus farm
Unstable banks, yikes, boats beware
The landslide is visible on the left bank
The white cliffs of New Zealand
Very big cliffs
This equipment was used to fix the section of track that had been washed away previously. We had to take it slow on this section
We are happy that they were able to fix the track so fast
Still losing altitude
Bird butt!
The number of birds grew exponentially
A cute small town church
A very large cemetery
I would have liked to stroll through this cemetery, there seems to be many different types of markers from different eras
Sheep farm, wind farm
Palmerston North Station had a bit of an equipment graveyard
Possibly an iron track bender
One of many odd machines
This is never a good sign when the guys in orange suits are looking at the train engine
OK, the guys are gone
Oh no, so is our train engine, the shadows tell the tale. Luckily they have a spare!
There it goes! Bye bye Kiwi Train Engine #7307
Getting down to the lower levels
There were very odd patches of trees left on the hills
This is one small road but it got a blast from the train. Look for the train sign on the right
The rivers are now slower and wider
Paekakariki! A cool old town
Street Art
Sand dunes, we must be getting close to the sea
Kapiti Island off the western coast of the North Island. It is 10 km long and 2 km wide and is an important nature reserve
We will be going through a tunnel soon
Looking back at a town on the spit of land
The sun is getting lower
So good to see the Tasman Sea
After this tunnel we are in Wellington!
