After a busy few days, we had a quieter day on Sunday, with only one activity planned – a trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway. This utilises a line no longer used by Kiwirail from Dunedin to Middlemarch, a distance of 60km. However, with the lack of overseas tourists, much of the enterprise has been mothballed and trains run only on Sundays and only as far as Hindon and there are none scheduled after this month. Perhaps not surprisingly the trip was sold out, as are the final two next week and the week after that. It is a delightful journey which follows the Taieri River deep into gold mining country. There are 8 tunnels and 4 viaducts, the largest of which, the Wingatui Viaduct, was built in 1887 and is 47 metres high. A bit vertiginous!
Photos were a little limited as the windows tended to reflect a bit, but here are a few, anyway.
The rest of the day was spent back at our motel in peaceful contemplation, some of which might possibly have involved closing the eyes.
It has been on my mind for a while now that those of you who are, along with Pip, Facebook Fiends, will have received our trip progress via Pip a few days in advance of this blog, together with photos, thus making the blog somewhat redundant. I am keeping on with it, however, since it can serve as an item of record in one place whereas Facebook posts, I think, can get lost among the myriad posts, advertisements and, obviously, important QAnon messages. But do feel free to stop your email links to these pages to avoid getting news you have already received. I won’t be at all offended (although I might query your priorities around supporting that nice Mr Zuckerberg).
Keep the blog going ! Yer grandchildren will be enchanted in years to come ,ha ha ! I for one enjoy your photos and comments, and I don’t care much for mr Zuckerberg!
OK, that’s good enough for me. I’ll keep going.
Yes, keep the blog going!! And, yes, Pip does help keep Mr Zuckerberg (not sure I would describe him as nice…) in business and garners plenty of response. I enjoy your photos as the choice lacks repetition which makes it easier for a maturing fellow to enjoy. Keep up the good work!! Have never been on the Taieri train and was slightly surprised to see how modern the rolling stock were (was..?) with the token exception. Suspect it is the train that crosses to the West Coast (from CHC) that uses historic rolling stock…..
Should have mentioned that I not only enjoy the photos but also the commentary….!
Yes, keep the blog going. It is fabulous, timing into inbox is perfect. Cheers
Carry on please!
Nice telegraph pole, BTW : )
Thanks. I photoshopped it in specially.
Definitely keep posting here. Yours and mum’s perspectives (photography and descriptions) are quite different so it’s nice to have both!!
And as you say, this blog will stick around longer than a Facebook post.