Out and about All aboard the North Pole Express
O¯ taki will disappear this December, to be replaced instead by the North Pole.
Ka¯ piti woman Sarah Ferguson is bringing the snow south, as part of her North Pole Express experience.
This outing will see passengers travel by steam train from Paraparaumu to the North Pole – which will have popped up where O¯ taki is usually found – and back.
Ferguson launched the event on Facebook earlier this month and one single post has reached almost 200,000 people, so far.
About 20,000 have signed up to her mailing list, ready for tickets to go on sale from October 1.
Inspired by rail excursions offered in the northern hemisphere, the self-described Christmas fanatic has worked for months to make an authentic experience.
Passengers can expect festive decorations, with carols, stories and hot cocoa. She’s even planned a Christmas scent for the carriages. Santa will travel back from the North Pole to Paraparaumu, giving each child a gift: a silver bell from his sleigh.
Ferguson has had a family from Brisbane, as well as many from around New Zealand, contact her about the experience.
She says the reaction has been unprecedented. ‘‘I think there’s a moment before you launch something into the world when you go ‘I wonder if people are going to like it’. I had hoped but I had a little bit of nerves before I put that one solitary [Facebook] post up and within hours, it was just sky-rocketing.
‘‘People were just tagging each other, it became viral … It’s just blown up. All of my fears are completely allayed now.’’
Ferguson says Christmas has always been ‘‘an event’’ in her family.
‘‘My mother’s one of those people that is just so passionate about making sure there’s a bit of magic in your world, in your life. Christmas has always been a really magical time in my family.’’
She plans to ride the train with her own family and says her efforts will all pay off when she sees the reactions of the train passengers.
‘‘I do think, selfishly, that’s going to be where I get my pay out of it. Watching those faces, watching their eyes widen.’’
Ferguson already has plans to take the experience to other parts of New Zealand in the coming years, with North Poles now expected to pop up all over New Zealand.