Ok, last instalment! From Goldfields we headed up to the Coromandel, that's the sticky-out bit where the sole of the 'boot' doesn't meet up, sort of opposite Auckland.
Here is probably one of, if not THE
really 'don't miss it' bits, Driving Creek Railway, and it wasn't built as a passenger carrying railway at all, but for a potter to get clay from the hillside behind his studio. Fortunately he was a very practical guy with a passion for railways, and the terrain was such that really rail was the only way. To say the track is torturous is an understatement, it cuts and spirals all over the hillside, zig-zaging, crossing itself, passing through tunnels and generally just clinging to the side of the hill. The ride can be quite exciting!
The base Station area.
Part of the fiddle yard beside the Station.
A Gricer?
Trains run in threes at busy times, so the Station gets pretty full. The trains (trams?), 3-car units, were specially built at the railway.
Two level running
The bricks and adornments for the tunnel portals ect where all made on site from the local clay.
On of the many Zig-zags
The drivers take pains to make sure that at the appropriate places there is another train in view, communicating all the time by two-way radio.
Truely worth the effort, but book before you arrive to be sure of a ride, it gets very busy. Also note the foliage, there are a vast amount of tree-ferns in the forest, though they can be seen over lots of NZ.
On the way back towards Auckland we stopped off at Grahamstown where there was a minor disaster, at least for the local 7 1/4" gauge railroaders. A storm in January had washed out about 200m of their mainline.
From the quality of their station building they seem to be very well set up, but they are very close to the sea.
The sea is just the other sdie of that pathway, and the track ran along next to the path.
It's a wonder there wasn't damage to the buildings as well. You can just see where the track joined up again beside that walker.
