Bealman mentioned the oneway bridges of which there were many, on the way to Franz Joseph we crossed this fella



737 metres with passing places!

Franz Joseph was our first and only major weather disappointment, drizzly with low cloud, we had intended a flight over the glacier and Mount Cook had to make do with a visit to the Kiwi sanctuary and a cinema show of what we would have seen, had some excellent food at Alice Mays and the town boasts a Monteiths & Speights alehouse so all was not lost.

On the road to Greymouth we stopped for coffee at an interesting little café which had a display of memorabilia (or junk depending on your point of view!)







and the house over the road with a collection of number plates!



On our travels I have never come across so many roadworks and resurfacing, some of the ripped up sections were not so good in a car so I felt extremely sorry for a group of cyclists that we passed. Nearing Greymouth we stopped at Shanty Town a collection of old buildings set out as a smalltown servicing a timber mill and goldfield, loved the Bush tram line









Gold panning



The carpenters shop, one of many interior reconstructions



The main street



Favorite spot of mine, bar of the "Golden Nugget" hotel serving a nice drop of Monteiths!



Billed as the "Short Stay" Known in NZ as the long drop!



Finally contents of the loco shed





Well that's it for now the short run to Greymouth to follow, cheers David

Great pics! Keep 'em coming.

You do know you got a photo of the ghost, behind the bar of the Golden Nugget.

Excellent pictures, as usual, David. It's funny though, after a while you get totally used to those bridges, don't you. At least the Kiwis drive on the correct side of the road!

Yeah, that barmaid does look a bit spooky, and I love the dunny shot!

Sorry the weather at Franz Josef was unsuitable for flying. When we were there we took a helicopter to the top of the glacier. I won't post the pics here because I don't want to look like I'm attempting to hijack your excellent thread, but if you are interested you can have a look at them in the media section in 'Bealman's old photos and magazines'.

Eagerly waiting the next installment!

George

Now in Greymouth

Some old buildings, collection of beer mats & the old quayside









We dropped the car of in Greymouth at the station were there was a Speights alehouse right opposite so after lunch we boarded the Trans Alpine train for Christchurch

Track maintenance



stop at Arthurs Pass



Shots on route one from the open sided observation car





Unfortunately the weather was not on its best behaviour



and one of the bridges



and so into Christchurch overnight before setting off on the Coastal Pacific.

Cheers for now  David

I am really enjoying your pictures David, thank you for taking the time to post them 

cheers John.

Aboard the Coastal Pacific we passed some lovely scenery





Stopped at Kaikoura and stayed in this lovely hotel, used to be a general store also had a very good restaurant Mortons attached



Went whale watching





and then on to Picton where we were to catch the ferry to the North island the following day









The old boat with the Café BAR open sign looks good from here



closer inspection showed it was closed and in a sad state of repair.

The bar on the corner came to the rescue!



and so off to Wellington, cheers  David

So nice! Have always wanted to go to NZ, watch some Cricket, some Rugby, hike the trail to Mordor, etc...and now ride the rails! I have a book that among other things talks about some of the great lines to ride, and the a NZ one is written about.

Great stuff! That's a lovely ferry trip from Picton. Looking forward to the Wellington chapter! My old schoolmate lives and works there. I left Geordieland and went to Aus, he left a year later and went to NZ.

A friend of mine hired a camper van, and toured NZ for a month or so, some years back. Made me very jealous with her photos, which she emailed back every day!
One day I hope to do the same.

And so to Wellington, our hotel was on oriental parade on the waterfront with hills behind it. our room was on the side on the 8th! floor and this was the view from our room!



We took a trip on a sightseeing bus, turned out to be a small 12 seater and we found out why when we wound our way up to the Mount Victoria viewpoint. On the way up we passed some lovely Victorian Villas built into the hillside many serviced by their own cable cars, anyway from the top



Oriental Parade is in the middle of the pic and our hotel to the right of centre, fortunately we had a nice level walk to city center.





Old St Pauls, entirely made of timber nearly demolished when they built the new cathedral





Old Government buildings, largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere



Street scene



The famous cable car



view down the run



from the top



Old cable car in the museum



car no 3 after restoration





and before



Pleasant walk back to town through the Botanical gardens






and no tale of mine would be complete without a pint herewith the Black Dog brewery, unfortunately closed all the time I was there shame as apparently it has a really good bar.



I was saved by a nice bar just round the corner that had their beers on tap, couple of pints of "Chomp" restored my equilibrium. Didn't realise at the time but we'd been walking past a great restaurant but more of that when we get to Napier. Cheers for now  David

Great stuff! Thanks for posting.  I went to NZ a couple of years back and visited many of the same places so it really brings back some good memories.

I'm hoping to head out there again in June to coincide with England v All Blacks (oh and my mum's 60th!).

Cheers, Mike

wonderful pics of the windy City.  I want to go baCK - 1996 is a long time ago.  Looks as if you may have stayed in the same hotel we did.

Depending on where you go in North Island, there is a model shop on a road parralel to the sea front in Napier.  went there in 1996 and again in 2011 - I think it is now run by a niece of the original proprietor.  Also do visit the Glenbrook Railway somewhere west of Pukekoe (SW of Auckland).  Not drmatic but great fun.  Our firend's dairy farm is nearby.

There is supposed to be another preserved line ip towards the Bay of Islands but it had suffered flooding in 2011 and was out of action .

Glad you did the Taieri Gorge.  A bit like the Mallaig run but on a vastly bigger scale.  We missed out on the Transalpine as the awful quake hit when we were still in north Island.  so we rescheduled to take in Queenstown and Dunedin.  Actually in Napier that day near enough 80 years after their quake.

Once again, great pics, David. Looks like typical Wellington weather, here's a 2008 shot:

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/MGalleryItem.php?id=10930

At least you had a level walk to town - as you are aware, Wellington is a very hilly place, and my mate lives right up in the Gods!!!

Great thread, mate. 

George