Big Wheels Keep on Turning

Alarm went off at 5 AM!  Up and showered and organized and out of the room just past 6 AM.  Sorry to say goodbye to our luxury digs.  In a taxi and at the Strand KiwiRail station by 6:30.  Checked luggage at gate.  Checked-in at 6:45.  Boarded at 7 AM.  Departed 7:45 AM.  Trip to Wellington?  Eleven hours, nearly 700 kms.

 

Train was full.  Very full.  Two cars of, how can I put it?  People like us.  Then an open air car for viewing, a café car, and a car full of pooh-bahs paying a lot more money.

 

We totally lucked out.  First, we were facing forward.  Second, we were on the “right” side, with better sights.  And third, the couple who sat facing us (two Aussies, a little older, rock and rollers, he was a drummer, she was a dancer) didn’t like facing the “wrong” way and moved to the café car, then disembarked halfway through.  So we had space and legroom.

Journey begins rather flat and commonplace.  Second stop is Hamilton; land gives way to lush forests and farmland.  Then it slowly winds up to the central plateau which is scrubby and with mountain sites.  As you descend, through Ohakune and towards Palmerston, you cross an endless number of viaducts over gorges, gullies and canyons.  We began to rate the gullies; gold, silver, also ran.

Above pics south of Hamilton.  Below pics on the central plateau at the National Park station, with volcanoes in the distance.

Then, ten hours in, all of a sudden you see the western coastline.  And, finally, you pull into the central station in Wellington.

This is our second “points” hotel, the Intercontinental.  Nothing to blog about, trust me.

We had walked the 10 minutes or so from train station to hotel.  It was past seven now.  We dropped our bags and headed out for dinner.  Unlike Auckland, Wellington has a more local feel, not inundated with tourists.  We found a wine bar, Noble Rot, and got the last table.  Excellent tapas and sips.  A lovely evening.