A Kiwi-as rail adventure
Ghosts and gumboots in the eastern BoP
Awakeri Rail Adventures, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, is a 20-kilometre round trip that is full of surprises. Expect to encounter the rare native weka, ancient kahikatea trees, and an effigy of a former United States President in a compromising position.
Golf carts, repurposed to run on rails are the self-drive ‘‘trains’’ for this guided journey through farmland and native bush.
Paul Francis is the guide and owner. He is a former train driver, and current rail enthusiast and karaoke singer, who performs at over50s’ birthdays and other celebrations. Yes, expect a song on the journey.
Francis established Awakeri Rail Adventures on the abandoned Ta¯ neatua line in 2015. He cleared the line, laid some new track and restored tiny, 100-year-old railway stations, which appear out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere.
Open the door to any of these stations and a surprise will greet you. But, obviously, they are not surprises if I divulge all here.
There are a few things I can tell you about the 21⁄2-3-hour journey.
First, self-driving. It’s strange to have a steering wheel you don’t need. The golf carts cling to the track, corners and all. However, attached to the steering wheel is a sign that reads: ‘‘This machine has no brain. Use your own.’’
Without my glasses on, I thought it read: ‘‘This machine has no brakes’’, which caused me some consternation and everyone else a lot of amusement. The brakes work very well.
All golf carts have walkie talkies, and Francis points out sites of interest along the way. We stopped alongside an apocalyptic-looking junk yard of old machinery and metal to feed a greedy flock of hens and assorted game birds, which ambush travellers as soon as the convoy arrives. These are no bird brains as they don’t bother heading our way on the return journey, knowing we don’t stop. It was a hit with the school holiday kids.
The next stop was for a short walk through White Pine Bush, famous locally for its 700-800-year-old kahikatea trees. There is also a resident ghost. The four-hectare reserve was once part of a 182-hectare forest wetland, cleared for farming. It took 10-15 years to chop down all the trees. The kahikatea was used to make boxes to export butter to England.
The four hectares retained as a reserve is the last remaining significant stand of wetland bush in the Whakata¯ ne district.
Awakeri Rail Adventures bought and monitors 15 rat and stoat traps in the reserve. Francis stopped counting the dead pests after a headcount of 400 in three years.
The walk leads us roadside, to a shrine to late, great comedian John Clarke, aka Fred Dagg. A retired farmer has lined a fence with gumboots collected over 30 years. This is where Francis’ singing prowess comes to the fore with a rousing rendition of If It Weren’t for Your Gumboots. Those of us over a certain age sing along.
A bush camp is the next stop on the journey where we had a hot drink and shared our biscuits with some friendly native weka.
But a trip to the female toilet brought the final surprise, more of a shock actually, an orangehaired former president sits on the dunny. There is something for everyone, young and old on this 20km ride that will, at times, have you in awe of the majesty of nature and in stitches over Clarke-esque humour.