We walked the few blocks from from the Ibis Hotel to the Wellington train station, picked up our pre-paid tickets ($251.46 USD for two), and boarded the KiwiRails Northern Explorer. Assigned to Carriage A, seats 2C and 2D, we introduced ourselves to our seat mate in 2A, Grant Woodhouse. Grant is a local Kiwi, retired police officer and now PI. He regaled us with local lore and insights.
During the 11-hour trip from Wellington to Auckland, we traveled along coast then inland through valleys (studded with .... sheep!).
We traversed alpine passes, crossed deep river gorges, skirted around magnificent volcanoes and marveled at the geography of this amazing country.
We also learned a lot about the All Blacks, as Grant is a huge fan. Grant explained: Rugby Union (15 players) is a "thug's game played by gentlemen" where Rugby League (13 players) is a "gentleman's game played by thugs."
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| Mount Ruapehu, along with Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro -are all part of Tongariro National Park |
We had been told about the Raurimu Spiral - an engineering heritage site en route between Wellington and Auckland.
When the railway was being built, a major obstacle was encountered - how to negotiate a 139 meter (456') escarpment between the volcanic plateau to the east and the valleys and gorges of the Whanganui River to the west. The problem was solved in 1898 by surveyor Robert Holmes who designed a single track railway spiral - one horseshoe curve, two 90-degree curves, two tunnels and one full circle that crosses over the longer tunnel. In a direct line, Raurimu is 5.5 kilometers from National Park; the train travels 11 kilometers of track to get there.
We arrived Auckland and took a taxi ($12 NZ) to the lovely Langham Hotel on Symonds Street. It is a most elegant hotel ($100 USD/night), recently refurbished, sister to the Huntington in Pasadena.
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| Langham Hotel Lobby |
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| Gingerbread House in Foyer |
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| Shell Christmas Tree |
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