Down by the waterside

It was a typical sunny,cold Auckland morning.

The Auckland foreshore has some amazing boats as these pictures only partially demonstrate.Incredible to think that the owners might only spend a few days on them a year. I think(don't quote me)they come to Auckland to be refurbished .

We spent a very pleasant day with grandma and my brother's family.Irene is the sweetest person and so beautiful with mum. 

She has a real knack for putting people at ease and  remains positive and cheerful in a very natural way making everybody laugh and have a good time.

 Her son James is a charming young man and ds thought he was great to "hang out with".

a long way down the track

Phew, this is a long post!But then it was a long trip. And once you have viewed all the pictures you can congratulate yourself that you have traveled most of the length of the north island(because who knows about anything north of Auckland, apart from the Bay of Islands...which are not even on the beautiful west coast of northland that I am so proud of...but I digress...)

We left Wellington early in the morning.Driving up to the kapiti coast we passed through several tunnels.(tunnels do not make for good photos so you will have to take my word for these.All of that is wrapped in family memories,trips on trains to Johnsonville,Khandallah, to the city with my cousins,Mary and Joan.Sadly I haven't seen Mary for years and she was not able to make it to her mother's funeral. Well wherever you are Mary I wish you joy and happiness and some amazing views. You were an important part of my childhood and I hope that goodness follows you and surrounds you.

Back to our trip. Because the train only stopped at  six stations(including Wellington and Auckland) we were fortunate to have Duncan narrating for most of the journey. The train was in the process of refurbishment and they planned to have taped commentary happening soon. Personally I think we were lucky to have Duncan as he spoke with humor and personalized what could have ended up as "just another travel log"

The trip started cool with a promise of cooler to come!Everywhere was green and lush and familiar New zealand countryside and farm houses sped by.

            

 "The long train moves: we move in it along.

Like an old ballad, or an endless song,

It drones and wimbles its unwearied croon—

Croons, drones, and mumbles all the afternoon."

As well as fully air-conditioned(think heated) carriages, at the rear of the train was a wonderful surprise:the viewing coach, which was completely open to all weather experiences and great photographic opportunities.

Here is ds again in the viewing coach. He spent most of the 10 hours there, finding and making friends and coming in to sit with us only when hunger or thirst needed another response.

As I said earlier ...it got colder!

"Faster than fairies, faster than witches, 
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches, 
And charging along like troops in a battle, 
All through the meadows the horses and cattle: 
All of the sights of the hill and the plain 
Fly as thick as driving rain; 
And ever again in the wink of an eye, 
Painted stations whistle by."

heading in to National Park, the vegetation changed

And getting closer we saw a ...

Along the way, we saw fantastic views of New Zealand farmland, rugged bush landscapes before ascending up the world famous Raurimu Spiral to the volcanic plateau passing the majestic volcanoes of Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu.

"In the final push to close the gap in the North Island main trunk line, the railway had reached Taumarunui by 1904. To the south lay the imposing ascent onto the Waimarino plateau. After much difficulty, civil engineer Robert Holmes came up with a remarkable answer. He designed the Raurimu spiral, which included two tunnels, three horseshoe curves and a complete circle."

Coming into the Waikato district the scenery changes

poor photo but it shows the small volcanic hills visible in this terrain.

And so in a single day we travelled past every kind of scenery there is, from coastline to volcanoes to mountains, from lush green farmland to thick New Zealand bush. an epic 681 kilometre (423 mile) journey!

Mount Crawford in the rain!

 The day was cool but sunny as we set off for our camp-fire expedition in the forest. I love the autumn colours of the vines...and so far a blue(ish) sky

 By the time all 9 cars had met up and were traveling in convoy the weather had changed dramatically!

 But what's a spot of rain when you're all outdoors together enjoying this fantastic site.

 Amongst the tall pines jutted ungainly rock formations, just perfect for climbing over, hiding behind and viewing our domain!

 The first job was to collect enough wood to light a fire!

 Once the fire had been started the children vanished( apart from the "littles") until the call of hunger saw them reclimbing up those same rocks to reach hot jacket potatoes oozing with butter and sticky sweet marshmallows to "wash them down" with!!

 The rain never entirely stopped but we didn't mind!

With good company, great food and a wonderful environment to be in who worries about the weather!

 We were sorry to leave but headed home with a feeling of contentment.

And stopping just a few times to take a few more pictures.

 Of a very beautiful

      Happy

 and memorable day!

 These are cauliflowers growing amongst gum trees

and here are the alpacas in the field of cauliflowers growing amongst the gum trees!

 I love autumn