Riding the Rails – 20 Tunnel Tour

Today we were taking a trip with Forgotten World Adventures to do their 20 tunnel tour using modified petrol driven golf carts. You can find out more information on their tours here.

There they were, waiting for us just past the rail crossing – our two seater rail carts.  This was the start of our rail adventure, we were off to do a 20 tunnel trip from Whangamomona to Okahukura. 

Our guide Ian gave us a safety talk.  The carts were mechanically quite simple, with a accelerator pedal and a brake, and governed to a speed of 20kms an hour.  With a white headlight, a large red tail light, and a flashing orange light on top of the vehicle, each unit was well lit up and easy to see.  Don’t touch the steering wheel, we were told, a difficult thing for a seasoned driver to remember.  There is no cell phone coverage in this rugged part of the country, and Ian assured us that with his satellite phone we could make a call in case of emergencies.

 

Ready for our rail adventures

Ian went in the first rail cart – all the better to check for obstacles on the track, and wandering stock, he told us.  (And he did – several sheep and a steer had to be chased off the line during the day).  We followed in a row, enjoying the scenery as we rattled along the rails, over the occasional small bridge through the rolling farm lands.

Off we go

Through the first four tunnels we went, they were pitch black and freezing cold.  Luckily the headlights worked well, and we followed in the wake of the red and orange lights of the two carts in front of us.

  Through the tunnel and out the other end

We stopped at Tangarakau for morning tea.  There is hardly a trace left of the bustling Ministry of Works town which flourished here during the construction of the railway line.  Further along the line we stopped briefly at Heao, where both ends of the railway met.  A silver spike was ceremonially driven in to the final length of track.  “Look for the silver spike”, our guide told us, “it will be around here somewhere”.  We weren’t falling for that!

The hills were white with flowering manuka trees with their sweet smell filling the air, and beehives were dotted around the paddocks.  Our lunch stop was at Tokirima, with Ian producing our picnic lunch from a couple of chilly bins.  With a hot cuppa, and a crunchy apple to finish, we were well catered for.  We all squeezed into the shade of the old wooden station building to shelter out of the hot sun while we ate our lunch. 

Lunch stop at Tokirima

A top dressing plane repeatedly buzzed by, dropping his load of fertilizer on the nearby paddocks.  Peter and Geoff waved excitedly as the plane roared overhead.

Watch out above

We certainly weren’t expecting a prison visit on our rail tour – but that is what our stop at Ohura gave us.  Just a short stroll from the railway line, the former Ohura Prison is now a motor camp, and customers aboard the rail trips are invited to check out the prison cells and use the ablutions.  We each bought an ice-cream from the camp shop and happily licked them to death on our stroll back to the rail carts.

The former Ohura Prison

Some of the tunnels were bone dry, we noticed, while others were dripping with water.   Several of the later tunnels were brick lined, with the bricks being made locally.  They  varied in length from a short 57m with the longest and final tunnel being a whopping 1525m.  The temperatures dropped dramatically inside the tunnels, and the final extra long tunnel had quite a turn built in so that we could not see the lights of the cart in front.

Final tunnel on our trip

The last stop on our trip was Okahukura, and we watched in interest as Ian lifted up the rail wheels back and front, then drove the carts on their rubber wheels and put them into storage till the next day’s trip.

Disengaging the rail wheels

We were loaded onto a mini van for a bumpy return journey to Whangamomona, but not before Robin had purchased a memento of the day.  Here he is sporting his new Forgotten World Adventures cap which shows the route of the rail line. 

Memories of the rail trip

This is a trip we would thoroughly recommend as we had a excellent day with a well run organisation and an extremely affable and knowledgeable guide in Ian. A great way to see part of the country that passenger trains seldom travelled. Congratulations to owner Ian Balme for his vision in creating such an unique rail adventure.