Sunday Feb 7, 2010 Taieri Gorge Train Trip

We arrived at the train station at 9 am. Traded in our ticket for our boarding passes with our car letter and seats. We travel 77 from Dunedin to Middlemarch. The last car was were we found our seats, which turned out to be the best place. There were not that many people in our car. The other cars appeared to be full. Some people were only going one way. One lady lived in Middlemarch. Other people were getting off to continue on foot or by bike on the 150 km Otago Central Rail Trail. It is restored from the former Middlemarch to Clyde rail route. For BCer's it is like the Kettle Valley Railway trek. Clyde is just south of Cromwell. We were to Cromwell while we were in Wanaka.

The day started out overcast and rain was threatening. It was a good day for a train trip. On the trip we went through 12 tunnels. The longest one was 1.5 km long. At the Wingatui Junction we switch from the Main Trunk Line to the historic railway line now owned by the Taieri Gorge Railway Ltd. It is a 64 km privately owned line. We climbed 254 m. The Maximum grade is 1:50. This trip is the only way to see the gorge. No road goes close to the gorge.

We travelled over many viaducts. The longest was the Wingatui Viaduct. It is 97m across and 147m above the creek. We were able to get good shots of it. As we travelled through the many tunnels and over the many viaducts we could not stop thinking of how Soren would narrate the trip. We also thought of how excited Aidan would be ride a train. I also had the Thomas the Train song going around and around in my head. It didn't help that we heard it on Saturday before we left Riverton. It was a wonderful trip. There was a long deep gorge along the Taieri River with steep walls made of shiste (I am not sure of the spelling) rock and high meadows full of sheep, cattle and many rock formations.

As we approached Middlemarch it started to rain. There was also an increase of human activity. More roads, more traffic and more homesteads. We had 1 hour in the Middlemarch which has a pop. of 250. We had lunch here. We went to see "the arches" which were at the north end of the track. It had stopped raining. We were expecting something different than what we saw. Someone had made increasingly larger arches made from local stone. They were interesting to look at once we got over our surprise.

Back on the train for the return trip. Things always look different from another angle.

What a great way to spend a day.