Hundertwasser is Everywhere, But to Catch Gabriel and Frederick We Need a Return Visit…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When I mentioned a few posts back that Austrian architect  Friedensreich Hundertwasser left his mark on Kawakawa, I wasn’t joking.

The quirkiness of his style is literally plastered all over the place.

There are even isolated tiles in the pavements and in walls…

Even a quick look around this small town will give you the idea that this guy’s influence has crept in almost everywhere!

The Café across the street,  gift shops and a raft of other local businesses have all been given what I might loosely term the  ’ Hundertwasser ‘ treatment, giving this small town a really special vibe.

I  can clearly see that the residents fell as much in love with  Hundertwasser ‘s style as he did with their town… a fitting  memorial to a man who’s work brings tourists from afar and puts some needed tourist dollars into the small businesses of this little community.

Hundertwasser lived close to the town of Kawakawa  for 25 years, at first for short stays, commuting back to Vienna regularly but as time progressed he started to spend more and more of his time at his New Zealand property preferring the small town community’s easy-going  and relaxed attitude and privacy afforded to him and as a place where he could enjoy an anonymity that he didn’t receive as famous architect in Europe.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’d love to come back here again one day… not just to get more photographs of  Hundertwasser’s work around the town but also because we missed another very special item unique to this little town… the trains!

Kawakawa is the only town in New Zealand to have a train track running right down the main street!

Apparently this originated back in the days when Kawakawa was called “Irishtown” and was the centre of a booming coal mining industry and coal was transported to Opua on the coast.

After  coal production ceased the line was used for other transport purposes until it was overtaken by other larger links to bigger deeper water ports.

For a while here was a vintage railway group using the line until 2000 when circumstances closed them down, but in 2006 a new Trust was formed and  The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway now runs weekend steam train excursions though the town at weekends.

We looked for “Gabriel” the famed steam engine  or “Frederick” the diesel engine but with no success. Yet another reason to try and come back here again:  I’d love a train ride!

The Trust has a website and once you take a look at the video on the first page, I’m certain you’ll probably want one too!   www.bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You Just Turn Me ‘Round, Turn Me, Turn Me ‘Round Baby…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Family Kiwidutch have just finished their very own individual train ride as semi-inaugural passengers on the Mamaku Railway.

We all express the hope  that next time we pass though Rotorua that we will have better luck with the weather and that the extended tour will also be available.

For the moment there is just one more question to answer…when you only have a single track how do the trains turn around?

After all, trains were never known for being able to make three-point turns.

The answer is one common to many train lines that face the same problem: they use a turntable.

The difference here is that the turntable  is a mini-version of the ones I’ve seen in my life so far, and the turn around almost couldn’t be more  simple or quicker…  in fact it’s so easy that when we were turned around at the other end of the line,  we didn’t even have to leave the comfort of the train.

With a  little help from RailCruiser staff, Himself bought us to a stop on the turntable and we were spun around within a minute or two.

For a better video than I managed to make, take a look at the RailCruising website:  http://www.railcruising.com/

Back at the station I made a short video clip of the trains being turned around… as usual the link to YouTube is there at the end but you’ll have to click it because the frame doesn’t seem to want to appear in this post automatically.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Kiwi’s Video Clip below…

RailCruising

Choo-Choo and Moo-Moo Magic…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In a follow-up to yesterday’s post, we have embarked on our own little train journey a.k.a. “RailCruising” on the Mamaku Railway.

Considering that the tail end of an Australian cyclone passing over the North Island at the moment, and that this might possibly be one of the wettest days of the year, it’s no surprise that  visibility is limited and therefore the stunning views that I know, are all in hiding behind the low cloud and driving rain.

Guess what? It doesn’t matter, we are still all having fun with a new experience and the kids are loving it.

Sure, a glorious day with amazing views and camera opportunities would  be preferable but who can control the weather?

The squalls come in various shades of heavy to ridiculously heavy but the clackity-clack of the rails exudes some sort of magic,  the kids imaginations run wild and there are even some shrieks of laughter when the local cattle line up on the other side of  a fence next to the track and start slowing following us down the fence line in their curiosity.

It wasn’t exactly a case of being chased by a herd of cows, more just a quiet  investigation of these bizarre intruders who are riding past the end of their paddock.  Himself starts making “mooing” noises which the kids are equally excited and worried about, as they aren’t certain if this will illicit a positive or negative response from the cattle.

All that happens in reality is that we get stared at intently by about 20 pairs of inquisitive eyes until the end of the paddock  breaks off the contact. (I do have photos, but Little Mr.was busy mugging for a camera  feigned ”scared faces” etc.  so those photos stay in our private family album)

I did at one point wonder if we should have waited to do the train trip on another day with far better weather, but the kids loved it as much as we did, so no regrets there. In fact, once back in The Netherlands, friends and relatives asked our children what they liked best about visiting  New Zealand and this little train trip came up as Number One each time.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Every now and again the rain obliterated all of the view…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Station in the distance…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We Are One of the World’s Very First RailCruiser’s!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

On a day in this, our retroactive tour of New Zealand (made December 2011-January 2012) we face a dilemma…

…what do you do with your day when you want to get out and about and see things, but the tail end of a cyclone is bringing down driving  rain that shows no sign of abating any-time soon?

In our case the answer is, …. you take a little train journey and go “RailCruising”.

What on earth we ask, is “RailCruising” ?

The answer is that “RailCruising” is the brain child of Neil and Jane Oppatt who run Rail Riders Limited.

They tell us that it all started with the closure and slow deteriation of the Rotorua-Putaruru Branch Railway Line, now also known as the Rotorua Railway.

The track was originally made to bring tourists to Rotorua and had other uses but hadn’t been in use for some time…

Neil and Jane envisioned a way to use the line in a completely new and origonal way… one that would give people taking a ride the chance to have a “driver’s eye view” of their train journey.

But how would this be possible? A normal train has a driver  in the engine at the front and carriages attached behind, so unless you are lucky enough to visit the cab, getting a driver style view is never possible.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The solution came in a complete re-think of the train itself.

These tiny little individual cabin style trains allow the visitor to ‘self drive” on the rails, and thus achieve the driver’s eye view the whole way.

To be fair ‘self drive’ means in reality that you are in charge of an emergancy brake, since the entire trip is fairly well completely automated, and there is no actual steering needed in these petrol-electric hybrid V3000 RailCruisers.

The train trip is called the Mamaku Express and is a two hour excursion over 20 kms of track. Since it’s a single line at the moment and not (yet) a loop, this means getting about 10 kms down the line, then being turned around and making the return journey back down the same track.

We hear from Neil that they hope to extend the length of the journey in the near future to connect with Rotorua so who knows? Maybe on our next trip here we can ride the extended version! Our little train consists of a 4 seater cabin where two seats are low in the front and two seats are higher at the back.

The “driver” in charge of the emergancy brake i.e. an adult,  ( …Dream on Little Mr.!) sits in one of the back seats, so the Kiwidutch kids get the lower seats at the front, and after Himself has had a quick demo of the train’s workings, we set out from the station to the familiar clickty-clack of train wheels.

When we did this trip the line had only been open three weeks so we can truly say that we have been amongst the first group of people in the world to experience riding in one of these amazing little trains!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)