Fast-facts

● The Paekā kā riki Station Museum is open Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 11am to 3pm.

● For the purposes of research, the museum has an archive dedicated to Paekā kā riki history, including items such as press cuttings, newspapers, oral history records, photographs and artefacts.

Be sure to check out Kā kā riki Books, the museum’s next-door neighbour. The bookshop can be accessed externally from the train station platform, or via an internal door to the museum. It specialises in old and rare books.

She was in awe of the changes she encountered — a particular favourite was the space made to feel like the

inside of a train tunnel, that then expanded into a wide, colourful area dedicated to railway engineering and maintenance (including a historic rail inspection trolley).

Her whole experience was made that much richer by the kind museum host who gave her a scavenger hunt to complete. After locating a collection of small, wooden toy-trains scattered throughout the museum, the host provided her with a lollipop — awesome stuff.

In the end, I left the museum well before I could properly absorb all it had to offer. This pleasantly surprising fact means just one thing: I intend to come back.