After packing up and cleaning the house, we loaded up the car and headed out for the Glenbrook Vintage Railway Station, a working steam locomotive south of Auckland. We arrived in time to buy tickets and then climbed up to the second floor of the building where the station master used large levers to manually change the signals along the track for the train as it approached the station.  We then rode the train for its hour-long round trip, including a 15 minute stop at the building where they repair/rebuild locomotives. Everyone working on the train were volunteers and railroad enthusiasts and enjoyed answering questions about the train and what they did. NZ doesn’t have things like OSHA or ADA, so we got to climb all into locomotives under repair and wander around all kinds of dangerous looking tools.  The train ride itself was great, although pretty loud and bumpy – would not be my ride of choice for a long time. On the way back we rode back in an open car directly behind the locomotive – really noisy, but fun. We had a few minutes to kill after the train arrived back at the station and Ryan was hungry (surprise!) so we all shared a delicious ploghman’s sandwich – yum!

After the train returned to the station and loaded up with a group of passengers, we rode a length of track on a manually handcart – singing “The Camptown Ladies”.  The young man from the railroad who rode with us to operate the handbrake asked “Didn’t they sing that song in Blazing Saddles?” – he thought it was pretty funny – you’ll need to find the movie clip on YouTube (if it’s there) to understand the context.

On the way to the airport, we stopped in a small town, checked out a “Salvos” (thrift store) with little success and a small bakery for a snack. And off to the airport…