Tag: New Zealand

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KiwiRail, South Island, New Zealand.

KiwiRail, South Island, New Zealand. 2023 February 17-21. Video by H.Koenig

In Hokitika, on the South Island's West Coast, one branch of the New Zealand national railroad ends at a major dairy. There was a daily train going there the three nights we stayed there, coming in while dark in the morning, leaving in the late afternoon.

At Arthur's Pass is a passenger station at the line's summit, where westbound trains go into the Otira Tunnel. The tunnel is 8.5km long with a 3% downgrade , so there are helpers added and removed here. One freight train is a unit train carrying coal from west coast mines to a power plant near Christchurch. Not sure what the other is carrying.

Rest area monument to the completion of the North Island Main Trunk Railway near Pokaka

Standard gauge on all New Zealand railroads is 3'6", which over a foot narrower than the North American standard of 4'8.5". This allows for tighter curves and shorter crossties. Much of the North Island line is electrified. By accident we stopped at a rest area where there was a monument to the "golden spike" location.

Model of Raurimu Spiral at overlook on State Highway 4.

Finally, the video ends with a quick view of the Raurimu Spiral on the North Island near National Park. It's where the main line crosses over itself above a tunnel, then continues on through reversing horseshoe curves. Not much is actually visible due to the geography and plant life, and the road to get to that location is a bit rough at the end. Never did see any rail traffic on the North Island lines, and the place we stayed at Raurimu, while near enough to the railroad at the bottom of the Spiral to hear it, didn't have a view.

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New Zealand 2023 Postings

Videos:

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Other, non-thermal videos:

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New Zealand Stereoviews

Here are a series of stereoviews taken of New Zealand geysers taken around the start of the 20th Century.

Cooking eggs at a boiling spring
B.W.Kilburn #15743

This is a view of Kereru Geyser and the Geyser Flat mound where Pohutu Geyser is located. Kereru is the low, darker mound along the stream bank. When we visited in 2019, the area where the cooking is occurring was an area with numerous frying pans, but no distinct erupting features that I could see.

Papakeura Geyser
L.Hanlon, Whangarei

Now called Papakura Geyser, this feature was a large perpetual spouter upstream from Pohutu Geyser along Puarenga Stream at Whakarewarewa. The activity ended in 1979, and that cessation lead to the campaign to limit the use of geothermal bores within 1.5 kilometers of Pohutu. Papakura did erupt for a couple of days in 2015.

The Champagne Cauldron, Wairakei
Underwood & Underwood

With the production wells for the Wairakei powerplants nearby, this feature is now a hole in the hillside filled with vegetation.

Where the world's fiery heart still burns — boiling pool of Pohutu Geyser
Underwood & Underwood #10316

The large vent in the center seems to actually be the vent of Te Horu, which in years past would show sympathetic responses to Pohutu's activity. I believe Pohotu is actually the mound cut off by the right edge of the photo.

Waikorohihi Geyser spouting boiling water 30 feet in air
Underwood & Underwood #10317

This feature is located near Pohutu, and has underground connections to it. It has been occasionally active the last few decades. When we visited in 2019, that was not one of those times, as it and nearby Mahanga were steaming and depositing sulfur around the vents.

The geyser basin and Rotorua Lake from the mountain at Whakarewarewa
Underwood & Underwood #10315

This is probably near the overlook we hiked to when visiting in 2019. On the left side Fenton Street is visible. Fenton was laid out to point directly toward Waikite Geyser, which is located in the bare area behind the standing woman. Pohutu Geyser and the Geyser Flat is the bare area above and to the right of that. Off in the distance, Sulphur Bay of Rotorua Lake is visible. The Whakarewarewa village is in the steaming area to the left of the center of the view. Note that today, the whole area beyond the thermal areas is the city of Rotorua. Much of the hillside to the right is now covered in trees.