Train from Auckland to Wellington

We love train travel. Not having to pay attention to the road means you can actually focus on the scenery. When you are restless, you can get up and walk around. The seats have enough room to stretch out. They all come with power outlets and many even have free wi-fi. Food is always at least good and often quite tasty. And you can easily bring plenty of food on board to satisfy your needs. And the cost is usually comparable to flying or renting a car. We figure when we take the train to Seattle it is as cheap as driving even with a taxi to our hotel since we aren't paying those outrageous downtown parking rates big city hotels all seem to have.

The observation car

Pastoral lands for the first few hours

The trip from Auckland to Wellington takes about nine hours by train so those amenities are all necessary and this trip met all the expectations other than the wi-fi. But with scenery like this who needs to be online anyway?

Then the mountains

And the gorges

We were fortunate to have great weather for most of the ride and even more fortunate to have a special viewing car with unobstructed views of the passing countryside. While a bit cold because it is open to the elements, the car was nearly always busy and at times crowded enough to make getting pictures a bit difficult.

And finally the sea as we near Wellington

View of Wellington

We were favored by some great weather as you can see from the pictures.