This post may contain affiliate links which earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you.

May 21, 2012

Taieri Gorge Railway in Photos

Ali Travel Tips & Stories New Zealand, round the world

Since Andy was deprived of his scenic train to Christchurch when we changed our plans, he was happy to find the Taieri Gorge Railway in Dunedin. It’s a scenic train ride through the valleys and mountains near Dunedin, which you can take one way or, more popular, round trip, and it makes for a relaxing afternoon enjoying the scenery. The train does make a few stops for pictures, but I took tons from the train while it was moving.

For more information on the Taieri Gorge Railway, please visit their website here.

18 Comments

Andi
May 21, 2012 @ 2:36 PM

What a peaceful getaway!
- Ali
  May 21, 2012 @ 3:20 PM
  
  Thanks Andi, it was great!
Andrew
May 21, 2012 @ 10:16 PM

I remember that day. It was a lot of fun. And pretty much only sunny day we had in Dunedin.
- Ali
  May 21, 2012 @ 10:52 PM
  
  I think it was. I’m glad you enjoyed the train so much!
Christy @ Technosyncratic
May 23, 2012 @ 1:07 AM

The rocky mountains with green shrubs and yellow flowers are really beautiful! And that is a deep gorge — nice to enjoy it from above. 🙂
- Ali
  May 23, 2012 @ 11:34 AM
  
  Thanks Christy! It was a gorgeous place, we really enjoyed it.
Cole @ Four Jandals
May 23, 2012 @ 4:29 PM

Been meaning to do that one for a while now! You guys are seeing more than I have seen of the whole of NZ 🙂
- Ali
  May 23, 2012 @ 8:07 PM
  
  I think that’s just how it happens, most people don’t explore enough of their own country. I know I haven’t explored enough of the States!
Mike
May 24, 2012 @ 1:33 AM

Stunning scenery, looks like a great train journey to take!
- Ali
  May 24, 2012 @ 3:16 PM
  
  Thanks Mike!
Andrea
May 26, 2012 @ 10:29 AM

Beautiful! We took a couple of train trips in NZ and the scenery was awesome.
- Ali
  May 26, 2012 @ 3:56 PM
  
  Thanks Andrea! We were disappointed we weren’t able to do the one to Christchurch, but this was a nice (but shorter) alternative.
Claire
May 26, 2012 @ 11:03 AM

Nice shots! I’m in New Zealand now but haven’t seen any mountains as green as those yet. The colder weather has hit – in the South island at least!
- Ali
  May 26, 2012 @ 3:57 PM
  
  Thanks Claire! It was cold in the south island when we were there in the summer, so I can’t imagine how cold it must be now. Have fun!
Matthew Cheyne
May 28, 2012 @ 3:53 PM

New Zealand train rides are legendary. They’re right up there with that train in Canada that spans the length of the country and some of the more adventurous train rides that exist in South America. I’m glad that Andy loved it. I think I would have loved it too had I been there with all that greenery to look out at.

Next time you’re in our part of the world again, see if you can put Christchurch back on your itinerary. Those guys have really suffered a lot for no good reason and they could do with the patronage and the exposure that your blog provides. Only last week they had another major earthquake above 5.0 . Thankfully nobody hurt and no major damage, just a few thousand people having to be evacuated out of buildings in the middle of the day.
- Ali
  May 29, 2012 @ 2:44 PM
  
  I’m starting to like trains more and more now that I live in Europe, and especially since Andy likes them so much so we take them often. You’re right, I feel awful about how much the earthquakes have affected Christchurch, and we would probably go there if we end up in New Zealand again. I’ve heard good things about the city, it just didn’t seem like a good idea to visit *while* they were having earthquakes in December. I hadn’t heard about the one from last week, glad it was a smaller one at least.
Matthew Cheyne
May 29, 2012 @ 7:13 PM

There is a beautiful train that Earl took in Switzerland when he did his journey there last year on a Eurail ticket. It was business class with leather seats and upholstery. Everything was just like you would expect in the business class section of a plane. I forget where Earl journeyed on this train but if you have a look at his blog you’ll be able to find it. You’re so lucky to be in Europe where they have an awesome train system. Where I live here in Morwell the trains run to Melbourne once every hour and when the weather is severe they don’t run at all and you have to take a replacement but which makes a two hour journey at least three hours. That’s never fun.

As for Christchurch, I’m glad you didn’t go in December because they had a tonne of big aftershocks in the days and weeks after the big one. Based on the number of earthquakes they’ve been having I suspect it’s going to be quite some time before things settle down.
- Ali
  May 29, 2012 @ 10:19 PM
  
  It is really nice to have such easy access to a great train system here. And yeah, Christchurch may take awhile to recover, but I hope they do soon.