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Published: December 3rd 2013
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Ready for the off!
She sent the "boy" to get her food and drinks all day! So today is our second big train journey of the trip. This is the one that Ian really wanted to do because the man in seat 61 really rated it. It runs all the way down from Auckland to Wellington and, like the Sunlander, takes about 11 hours. After the disappointment of the Sunlander I was slightly nervous as we headed out in the taxi for our 7.30 check in.
First impressions were good. The train itself was far more modern and more tailor made for viewing with big picture windows as well as a proper open observation car at the front. Having checked our luggage we settled into our seats and waited to set off (so we could get breakfast from the cafe car!).
Also the majority of the travellers were tourists as opposed to the locals the train runs an audio guide with headphones at every seat. Typical for us, it wasn't working so after spending 10 mins at the first stop trying to fix it they ended up using the back up system - the train guard making announcements as we went.
The northern explorer was built in 1908. It covers 681 km, very similar
View from my seat.
Not seat 61 - 11a to the Sunlander. However it crosses 352 bridges!!!!! And goes through 18 tunnels. So again, if you work out the kmph it definitely wouldn't be a transport for speed.
Once we set off, we were soon leaving the Auckland suburbs. And that's when the northern explorer beat the Australian sunlander hands down again. The scenery we passed on the trip was just amazing. First we had lush farmlands, rolling hills and cattle. We then moved into the more dramatic mountain scenery. Rivers, volcanic plateaus. It had it all. Constantly changing unlike the sugar cane of the Australian East cost.
Key engineering highlight was something called the Raimuru spiral. This is a spiral of the track which allows the train to rise up a steep rise. Ian and I rushed out to the observatory car to get a picture of the feat. Not one I can share with blog readers as forgot to charge my phone so it ran out about 2 hours into the trip!
Another key point of the trip was the Rangitikei river. The train crosses three times over viaducts. At these points the river is running through a deep gorge with white cliffs dramatically
Another view
Just waiting for the phone to die! towering over the water. Sorry there's no picture again! By this point I was using the picture windows as I had no camera and leaving Ian to brave the winds of the observation car.
As we headed into Wellington the train took the ocean route, coming within feet of the crashing waves.
So what didn't we get - any interaction with any real New Zealanders as it was full of similarly aged and equipped (I.e.big cameras!) tourists. The food was all prepacked so had none of the romantic notion of the toast and freshly cooked burgers of the dining car of the Sunlander.
What we did get was a sense of the diversity of the landscape in New Zealand and a real sense of the grandeur of the country.
Arriving at Wellington station around 6.30 the hotel was a quick 5 min trundle. We were staying at Rydges, Wellington which must be a big aus/NZ chain as we have seen them in most places we have been. After a quick relax with a cup of tea we glammed up to hit the sights of Wellington. Now we seem to think we gained some sort of ESP
while we have been away, so we managed to head out with no map and leaving behind the list of restaurants recommended by our friend. This was on the basis that we are in the centre of the city, how hard can it be. The answer, bleeding impossible!!! It was Saturday night so we were expecting some life outside of the business district, and I am not joking when I say we could not find a single restaurant. Not quite true, we found one but it shut at 9 and we found it at 9.03.
So, an hour after starting out, we glimpsed an oasis...... McDonalds! Feel we were slightly too dressed up for a Big Mac but any port in a storm!
Obviously when we got back to our hotel, we checked out the city map vs our route. Missed all restaurant areas by a block in all directions!!! Oh well, at least we found the cable car for tomorrow.
As we were back early - no matter how hard I tried I found it hard to eke out my Big Mac for longer than 15 minutes - we switched on the TV to find the
The ocean near Wellington
And then I remembered that my ipad took photos!!!!!
The view from the train. Good job it was a nice day new jack reacher film had just started so ended up with a bit of a late one.
My biggest mistake was not trying to post my blog till the film ended. Rydges gives you 20 minutes free wifi every 24 hours for each device. So I used mine at 1am in the morning. So tomorrow I won't get my next day till 1.20am!
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