Lower North Island Rail Tour
26-11-2020 to 02-12-2020
Blue arrows outward train route.
Red arrows return train route.
Green arrows coach route.
Upper half of Hamilton-Wellington route.
Lower half of Hamilton-Wellington route.
Palmerston North to Napier route.
Day 1
26th November
It was not raining when we left Hamilton but the weather deteriorated as we travelled down the line. This is what the weather was like when we arrived at the National Park station. We will be catching the train here on our way home on Wednesday.
Above are a couple of photos taken from the train. The viaduct is an old one now used for a cycle trail.
As you can see from this view, the weather cleared up an hour or so from Wellington.
Wellington
27th November
Our first stop on our Wellington tour was at the lookout on Mt Victoria. This photo is looking out over Wellington.
This is a photo looking down the other side to Wellington airport and the south. Landing at Wellington airport can be a hair raising experience when there is a wind blowing.
One of the stops on our tour was the Botanic Gardens. This is a view of the Lady Norwood Rose Garden and the Begonia House.
Our last stop was the Old St. Paul's church built by the Anglican Church between 1865 and 1866.
Wellington-Napier
28th November
Here are the two carriages of our chartered train to Napier standing at platform 9 of the Wellington station.
All connected up ready for the off at 09:00 precisely.
Our route took us through the Manawatu gorge.This gorge runs between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges in the south part of the North Island, linking the Manawatu and Hawke's Bay regions.
This photo shows the biggest slip caused by the heavy rains in 2017. Because there have been so many slips on the Manawatu Gorge road it has been closed permanently.
This is our lunch. A sandwhich, grapes, louise slice, a little pot of mixed fruit and nuts and a drink.
To finish off this is a photo taken of a viaduct we had just crossed.
Napier
29th November
Today we had a tour of the Hawke's bay region. Our first stop was the Farmer's market in Hastings.
Next was a stop at Moana winery for some wine tasting. Here we are waiting to be told what wine we have in front of us. We were given four wines to taste. The wine was not to our taste so we did not buy any.
Napier
30th November
This is a rather nice sculpture of a Kowhai flower. It was just outside the hotel where we were having breakfast.
Napier is known for its 1930s Art Deco architecture, built after much of the city was razed in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
After an Art Deco tour of Napier we were taken for a three course lunch at Mission Estate Winery. It was established in 1851 by pioneering French Missionaries and is New Zealand's oldest winery.
Napier-Chateau Tongariro
1st December
Today we left Napier travelling by coach to the Chateau Tongariro hotel on the slopes of Mt. Ruapehu. Once again the weather was rainy.
On the way we stopped at the memorial for the Tangiwai Rail Disaster. At 10:21 p.m. on Christmas Eve 1953 the Wellington-Auckland night express plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River. A lahar from Mount Ruapehu had washed away the bridge.
After our lunch stop the weather improved. This is our first glimps of Mt. Ruapehu.
And this is the view just before we turn and head up the mountain to our hotel.
The Chateau Tongariro. This hotel is modelled on the design of the Canadian Resort of Lake Louise.
This is where we had our farewell dinner.
Chateau Tongariro-Hamilton
2nd December
This is the last day of the tour and Mt. Ruapehu is clear of clouds.
Our train does not leave till 1:15 p.m. so we had an excursion to the end of the road up Mt. Ruapehu. This is where the chair lift and the soon to be completed gondola take skiers up the mountain.
Believe it or not this is called 'Happy Valley'. It is the ski slope for beginners.
On a day like this these snow grooming machines seem out of place.
These curious yellow monsters are snow making machines.
This is the view down to the Central Plateau as we head back to the hotel.
On the way down we stopped at this viewing point and looked back at Mt. Ruapehu.
Mt. Ngauruhoe. The stand in for Mt. Doom of the Lord Of The Rings.
This is the view we should have had on our first day when we passed through National Park on the train. This was taken from the spot where our carriage stopped at the platform.
These final two photos are of the Raurimu Spiral.The Raurimu Spiral is considered an engineering masterpiece. The line loops back upon itself and then spirals around with the aid of tunnels and bridges. The line is below in this picture.
In this photo the line is above, on the sky line.