Today we took the 32km, 3.5 hour rail cart journey along the disused branch railway from Okahukura to Matiere and return. Come along for the journey.
The whole journey in the self-drive carts was fantastic. There were about 7 carts plus a lead cart with our guide Jessie and a tail-end charley with staffer Ryan. We were just the two of us in a four-person cart. In fact every cart, whether of two-person or four-person capacity, was occupied by two people only, except for one group of four who, naturally enough, were four people to a cart. So there we were, L and I, sitting up front with a clear view ahead. The etiquette is to keep 50 metres distance from the cart in front, so although we felt every bit the tourist group following the leader on the 10 minute bus trip from Taumarunui to Okahukura, this feeling vanished once we were on the track. I ‘drove’ for the journey out to Matiere, and L ‘drove’ on the way back. Driving involved pressing the foot to the pedal, and lifting it when one needed to slow down or stop.
Our guide Jessie was one of those rare commentator beasts who knew her stuff and could deliver it in an interesting manner. She was great. Sorry but you’ll have to do your own reseach on the line, because I can’t recall the detail in sufficient accuracy to report it here. But anyway, it’d spoil the fun for those of you intending to do the trip yourselves. And you should. There are longer, 20 tunnel, tours but we felt the 3.5 hours was just right. It is noisy, and, for us at least, 3.5 hours on a group tour is at the limit, and that only because it is essentially, apart from the ten-minute bus trip to and from, an individual experience.
One thing I do recall is the engineering feat of the 1.5 km tunnel through papa (claggy mudstone) which took 10 years to complete, and which the tunnellers from either end, despite the bends and gradients at either end, managed to match up perfectly when they met. They hacked out the tunnel using pickaxes and shovels, no explosives. There were no deaths from the construction as such, but there were some from their living conditions of tents in unsanitary conditions during cold, cold winters. Would I recommend this tour? Yes, definitely. It exceeded my expectations big time. And if you are a railways buff or nerdy historian, it’s a must. But I guess any railways buffs and nerdy historians we know have already done it.
Off Highway One 