A train trip

My GKB has just had a birthday so the kids all dubbed in and shouted him a trip to Palmerston on the Seasider train and I went with him :) It was a pleasant way to spend a winter's day.

We had a little while to wait before we could board the train once we arrived in Dunedin so we had a poke around the farmers market and then  listened to some young people busking outside the station.

 

Eventually we were able to board the train and our journey began. 

We had a nice young couple from Auckland sitting opposite us, they were doing some sightseeing before they headed back north in a couple of months time. They took this photo of us.

 

My GKB's family are from the Palmerston area, none left there any more, but he still feels a real connection. He spent a lot of time there as a boy. When we arrived he only had one thing in mind - one of McGregor's (world famous in Otago) mutton pies for his lunch. 

 

I think he was a little bit disappointed as the pie as a bit dry. Mutton pies always used to be greasy, the fat would run out as you took a bite and run down your chin. People either hated them or loved them, I was in the first camp. So I had a large sausage roll :) 

 

 After lunch we took a stroll around the township before heading back to the train. On the way we stopped to chat with a couple of the local goldminers. A lovely day out and a thoughtful birthday present from the kids for their father.

That's it until next time,

enjoy your week.

Diana

A rail journey

When my son let us know they were coming over for a holiday he said he would love to give his wife some sort of a surprise, a trip somewhere special or horse riding perhaps. We arranged horse riding for them but he decided that maybe he should warn her about that and we'd all try to think of something else.

And then my daughter rang and she said she had found half price tickets on the Taieri Gorge Railway. Yippee. We got the vouchers and headed into town and booked our seats. We didn't tell them where were going, just told them not to arrange anything for that day, so it was a surprise for both of them.

On the day we headed in to our beautiful railway station and boarded the train.  We had a choice of heritage carriage or observation carriage, we opted for the heritage seeing as we were able to move around if we wanted to get photo's. These carriages date from 1912 - 1923 and are done out in wood panelling and have open platforms at each end. Comfortable, authentic and fun.

A friend of ours was on the train as a guard so he sat down for a few minutes to have a chat. He hadn't seen our son for a few years and they enjoyed having a bit of a catch up. Then he was away to do his commentary.

Anyway once out of the city the train turns inland and heads west and into the hills. For a start we travelled through farmland, sheep, alpaca, horse studs (racing) and cows. 

Then it was into more rugged country with deep ravines and rivers  on one side and high hills on the other. 

There were 12 tunnels in all and 19 bridges or viaducts to be crossed on the way.

We passed one hotel and several workers houses that are now only used as holiday places or getaways for fishermen. Sue, the dog, is a statue in honour of the working dogs in the area. Can you see the bath down by the river in the picture of the house below? You might have to blow the picture up a bit. (It's the smallest white thing in the trees).

The two green bins are very posh longdrops (toilets), the red shed is the hotel. 

During the summer tourist season the train normally runs through to Middlemarch where it turns around for the return journey. We only went as far as Pukerangi but that was still a four hour return trip. We got off here for a bit of a wander while the engines changed ends so we could begin the return journey. (Pukerangi is a Maori word meaning Hill of god).

I didn't wander too far though as I'm always worried that the train will leave without me. I'm a bit wimpy that way.

 Then it was all aboard... 

...and we headed back the way we had come.

We all enjoyed our day out on the train and it was a good way for them to start their holiday. Our son hadn't been on the train before either so it was all new for him as well as his wife, and it was great to be able to do something neither of them expected. 

Have a great week.

Diana

Joining with:

Wake up Wednesday

Say g'day Saturday

Labour weekend 'Steam Festival'

Yesterday was quite a nice day for Labour Weekend, historically it's wet and grey and just generally horrible. So my GKB and I decided to go into town for lunch. On the way we thought we might make a detour via the railway station and see what was happening seeing as the 'Steam Festival' is on this weekend.

 

 

 

The farmers market at the northern end of the platform was just upping sticks in readiness to depart. No-one told them we were on our way, ha ha. It's a great place to buy fresh produce,
 jams, pickles etc. Lunch in the cafe on the platform and people watching for a while sounded like a good plan.

 

  

 Steampunk is also part of the festival and some of their members were strolling about - and having lunch at the table next to ours!

 

There is something strangely attractive about these people, costumes and paraphernalia, I'm not quite sure what it is.
 I just love the look of them.
 

 After lunch we met a friend who works on the railway and were given complimentary tickets on the train to go for a trip down the harbourside, leaving in about half an hour.

 

Everyone climbed aboard and we chugged away down the line. Just getting settled in to the journey and the p.a. system tells us there is a problem with the engine and we'll have to go back to the station. So back we chugged much to the disappointment of all the kids on board. It was going to take half an hour to fix whatever was wrong so we disembarked and went up onto the overhead

footbridge for a looksee.

 

 

 

Lots of people, mostly kids, were having rides on the hand powered jigger... 

 

 

...but we decided it was getting too cold and we'd just wait for the engine to come back from whence it had gone and hopefully get a good photo from the bridge. You won't believe it but we waited for over an hour - with the weather closing in and the wind blowing in from the harbour - to get this shot...

 

 

...a great billow of smoke, you can just see the engine. Ha ha, you have to laugh. But we weren't the only ones, there were a lot of trainspotters on the bridge with us as well

 as mums and dads and kids.

 

We didn't get back on the train again, we decided to go and have a hot coffee instead and head back to our nice warm home. The traditional Labour Weekend weather had arrived!

 

Blessings to you and yours,

Diana