The #Auckland 🇳🇿 to #Wellington #GreatJourneysNZ “Northern Explorer” climbs up to National Park station (825 metres a.s.l.) by means of the complex “Raurimu Spiral”, a line development with loops and hairpin bends, reminding me of the #Albula line in Switzerland.
The #Auckland 🇳🇿 to #Wellington #KiwiRail #GreatJourneysNZ “Northern Explorer” has got a lovely #Café @diningcar.at Time to head for a nice New Zealand breakfast. (And time to make this post as long as we’ve got mobile network coverage.)
Ok, I couldn’t face walking home (~40mins up hill), but luckily there was a Mevo close by 🥰
Door to door in 13.5 hrs… not quite as advertised, but not entirely unexpected.
End of 🧵
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Umm, is there really no footpath for walking to the city centre from the Strand station?! Ahead of their time!
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Woohoo! On a roll to the Strand station. So fast on these better rails!! Only just over an hour late… ⏱️
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Latest update on the Northern Explorer that was due in at 7pm is that on top of the existing 45min delay, we are now stuck just south of Papatoetoe due to a trespasser on the tracks near Middlemore Hospital…
But in belated news, we saw Te Huia go past in the other direction 🐦 🚆
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Scenery is a bit different up here. And I am guilty of being underwhelmed by rolling green hills. But some mini mountains and maxi rivers help break things up.
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In case anyone is interested, the vege lasagne is of the “fake meat” style, not the “full of vegetables” style.
Was the only vege meal option, and I got the last one.
If I was to do this in future I would take more snacks - New World is in the train station in Wellington.
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After rumours of the train running late (aka me looking at the timetable), there has finally been an announcement as we leave Hamilton. We are 45mins behind schedule.
Current time: 17:10,
ETA Auckland: 19:45,
Bar/food closing: 17:45 (last call now)
Guess I’m having early dinner…
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Long time with no consistent cell signal. But also a long time with high CO2 and high temps is not conducive to working productively. Really disappointing after a promising start. Did they outsource their ventilation control to an AI system that needs cell signal?!
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Takeaway coffee cup and sunglasses on a train table.
Viaduct
Made it to Waimarino, and tempted fate by ordering a coffee. Had low expectations, but it didn’t meet them. 2 on a 5 point scale.
Scenery A++ though 😍
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Brief stop on Ohakune means a moment of 5G. USB-A port charging a power bank which is charging my phone is just keeping up. Laptop on low power mode is doing well. Haven’t needed my external laptop powerbank or to kick someone out of their seat in the dining car yet.
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A pie with poppy seeds on top sits on a paper plate with a packet of tomato sauce tucked behind it. In the background is a small packet of apple cider vinegar & sea salt chips.
Also took my opportunity to get a vegetarian pie and chips for lunch in a patch of cell signal so I didn’t have to use cash.
The pie met expectations. 3 on a 5 point scale.
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Took some photos as the train zipped over some viaducts. In case anyone is interested… these are all different viaducts even though they look similar.
We are almost in Taihape and are back along SH1 so there might be cell signal to post photos.
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Some good tunnels and bridges already, but they’re not easy to photograph from the train.
I’m looking forward to the viaducts as we wind our way up the Rangitikei River towards Taihape.
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Having an offline map which can tell you where you are is handy for sightseeing.
Many tight (slow) corners and bumpy bits of rail already and it’s not even into steep country yet.
Looks like out next corner will be Marton, which SH1 doesn’t go through so is new to me.
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Having done an hour of work on my laptop, we arrived in Palmerston North. Looks like CO2 mostly bouncing around 1000-1200 while the train is going. AC turned on about 935 and it stayed low. But when we stopped at a station it shot up and only started dropping once we started moving
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Managed to join my 930am Teams call with cell phone and headphones, only to find it had been cancelled. Next zoom meeting not until 3pm, which, according to the schedule, will be somewhere between Taumarunui and Otorohanga. Don’t hold out much hope.
NZ still pretty.
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Needed some water so going for an explore. Dining cart is small, but has powerpoints and two of the three larger tables have wheelchair/mobility options.
Apparently Wellington was all out of sparkling water so still water it is.
NZ still looking pretty but too much glare!
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Cell signal is already getting dicey at we’re not even in “remote” areas yet… this thread might get a bit less “live” soon. Plus I’ve got to actually do some work!
Really need the sun to get higher in the sky, since the large panoramic windows make it hard to see the laptop screen
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Photo out a train window with an empty road running between the train and a rocky coastline. Gentle waves coming ashore and in the background is calm ocean with Kapiti Island on the horizon (taking up most of the horizon).
After a brief wait behind Pukerua Bay we are off again. Coastline and Kapiti Island looking lovely 😻
The road running alongside the train here is empty at 9am. Way more people just in my carriage on the train. Probably means we don’t need the road.
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Timeseries graph showing time on the x axis (8am - 845am range) and CO2 in ppm on the y axis. Curve jumps up from outside levels to 1100at 8am. Then rises to 1400 at 8:15am. Then gradually drops to around 1000 by 845am.
Timeseries plot of temperature. X axis is time (8-845am) y axis is temperature from 17°C steadily up to 23°C.
After cranking its way up to 1400ppm (over 2% of each breath having been in someone’s lungs) the CO2 started dropping once we’d been moving for a bit. Temperatures just keep cranking up with this sun though. Tshirt time!
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Photo from a train carriage (some window reflections). Whole bottom half filled with calm and but slightly rippled water of a harbour. Some hills form a line across the whole image about halfway up. Then a crystal clear blue sky for the top half of the photo.
Photo with the sun in the middle at the top of the image shining onto an empty set of four train seats around a table. Out the window are some green fields in the foreground and dry hills in the back.
Photo with the top half being ridiculously blue sky with no clouds. Bottom half are rolling dry grass hills.
Rolling (very dry) hills and Porirua harbour looking very lovely in the morning light on this completely cloudless morning.
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There is a headphone jack for listening to the audio commentary on each seat, but no obvious USB-A port for charging. They said they had them though, so further inspection leads me to find two USB-A ports (per 4 person seating area) at floor level….
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Food/kai trifold menu. Sections: breakfast, bakery, salads, sandwiches & pies, mains, sweets, snacks. Range from $2.90 for a chocolate bar to $26 for a lamb shank on mashed potato with broccoli.
Drinks/uni menu. Uninspired… beer options are all $9.50 and are: tuatara pilsner, monteith’s original, monteith’s black, monteith’s golden, steinlager pure, and empathy light (whatever that is).
On the table when you board are a set of headphones for each passenger, a safety card and a menu. Food options are pretty reasonably priced and you can bring your own snacks on board. And decent vegetarian options.
Beer options not so much, and you can’t BYO.
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Selfie looking out the train window as a train pulls out of a station. Wellington hills and a metro link commuter train in the background. Foreground has the photographer on the left on headphones and an N95 mask, open laptop on the table in front.
Photo of a hand holding up an Aranet4 CO2 monitor showing 1159 in the middle of the shot. Background is train tracks and then a train platform and buildings in the back. Bright blue sky above.
Heading out of the station at 8:05am. CO2 is somehow over 1100ppm at 8am despite people only boarding 5mins earlier and it being less than half full. Makes it seem like the carriage has no fresh air and wasn’t aired out overnight… did feel damp and stuffy when I got on…
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Photo of a train pulled up at a train platform. Train is light grey with decorative curved lines in darks grey, orange, and yellow. Small electronic sign above the door nearest the photographer says “D”.
Photo of three seats around a table on a train. Two on one side, one on the other, which has the photographer’s bag on it. Table has a faux wood top. Seats are fabric with a dark blue background and swirly grey line drawings on them. Headrests are grey (p)leather.
Ok, turns out someone needed to press the door open button that looked like an emergency only one rather than a customer friendly one… now on board and ready to go at 7:55am.
Seat allocation seems decent.
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Train platform with a large area full of (mostly) wheeled bags waiting to be loaded into the luggage carriage.
Photo of the side of a train carriage with two men who work for KiwiRail holding two bags each queueing to pass the bags to a guy inside the train who is stacking the luggage in the luggage carriage.
Some confusion when the train rolls up but all the train doors stay closed. In the end people find that you need to head right to the end to find the luggage carriage and drop off your luggage. Then we just spend 15mins loitering on the train platform.
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