Route details for Auckland to Wellington
Route entered by
Tom McMillan
Method
Train
Cost
MIN
AVERAGE
MAX
CURRENCY
130.00
130.00
130.00
New Zealand Dollar
Last travelled
02/02/2008
Last rated
31/05/2010
Duration
MIN
AVERAGE
MAX
12h 0m
12h 0m
12h 0m
Route notes
This route is affectionately known as the Overlander taking you through the heart of the North Island. When we lived in NZ we found that most Kiwi's flew from Auckland and Wellington because the train is so slow. There is no way I'm going to convince you that it's not slow but that’s actually half its appeal as it gives you a decent amount of time to relax and view the passing countryside. The scenery is not the iconic images you will have seen of New Zealand but you get fine views of the volcano peaks, river gorges and then the coastline as you get close to Wellington.
There are two definite highlights to this train, the back carriage which has a lounge area and large lack window and the outside carriage which sits towards the front of the train.
Actually there was a third highlight which was that we meant to get the train to Wellington and then go back on ourselves to a town called Plimmerton. We got chatting to the conductor who said he could help us out and get the driver to stop the Wellington train at Plimmerton as an unscheduled stop. We thought he was having a laugh until he called the driver who made the extra stop saving us over an hour on our journey much to our delight!