Places.
The Taieri Gorge Railway.
Would I like to go on the Taieri Gorge Railway, the question came, from a close friend here in Dunedin. Would I ever? It is a railway trip I had long hoped to make, but didn’t want to do alone! So we booked up and four of us took a “girls afternoon” out. The trip is only 77km long but with the narrow guage tracks, steep gradient, multiple viaducts and tunnels, it takes over 4 hours to go from Dunedin to Pukerangi and back. (Pukerangi is pronounced Puh-ker-rang-ee) Built over a period of 40 plus years, the railway used to connect Dunedin with the gold fields of Central Otago. With the advent of modern roads, most of the line has closed, but this small section is still here to enjoy.
It takes you through areas where there are no roads, along narrow ledges chipped into solid rock, along the twisting track of the Taieri Creek and through huge hills. Some of the tunnels are so narrow that the modern engine can barely pass through. They warn passengers not to place ANY part of their body or head out of the windows as the sides of the tunnels are that close. I stood out on the viewing platform as we went through the narrowest tunnel of all and the walls were merely 3 inches from us! No wonder the driver hoots and slows the train right down to pass through safely!
The viaducts are many, some just a matter of a hundred metres apart. Some long, some short, all well up above the valley floor below!
The scenery is magnificent all the way along. From the open plains, to verdant forests, rocky hills to stunning waterfalls, the journey was one filled with amazement. Amazement at the beauty, so unspoilt and even more so, amazement at the skills of the men who worked on the railway, almost 150 years ago, making a safe means of getting into the more inaccessible areas of southern and central Otago.
At a tiny place called Minton, where the only road ends, there is a stone statue of a dog. She is there to pay homage to the hundreds of thousands of sheepdogs who have walked these hills, with the shepherds, tending the flocks. To see the terrain you have to be in awe of these men and dogs. Sheep graze in the most inaccessible places! All along the hills we could see them, munching their way across from one area of grass to another, hundreds of feet above us! They also compete with huge flocks of wild goats and geese.
All along the journey, the chance came for the passengers to alight and stretch their legs, getting a closer look at some of the things we were passing. It was quite unnerving, but I walked across the viaduct, over 100 feet above a raging torrent, with about 80% of the others who were aboard. We got to see and smell things that unless you make the trip, you couldn’t see elsewhere. It was amazing.
As we came back toward Dunedin I was able to get a photo of Saddle Hill, the hill my house faces, from the other side! In all, a lovely trip and very relaxing. Therapy costs more!
