Finally, after nearly 20 months away intrepidly travelling around the world, I arrived back into Auckland; the city I had departed from all those months ago. I used to live and work in Auckland so I would spend a few eventful days catching up with old workmates and friends before one last train journey the length of the North Island before I would be ‘home’; the house your parents live in. The early summer weather had not been great since I returned, somewhat of a shock coming from Thailand, but on the day of my cross-country train journey I got lucky with the weather.
The Northern Explorer (formerly known as the Overlander) runs three times a week between Auckland and Wellington (and vice versa on opposite days). The journey passes through many of the most scenic parts of the North Island from the rolling green farmland of Waikato, Virgin bush, through sleepy small towns, along rocky windswept coasts and through the incredible Tongariro National Park with its iconic volcanic peaks. You’ll also pass over some of the main truck lines impressive engineering projects such as the ‘engineering masterpiece’ that is the Raurimu Spiral, the Hapuawhenua Viaduct and the Mangaweka viaducts.
New Zealand isn’t known for its train network so I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the carriages. The Northern Explorer really is a great train journey that really should be undertaken at least once as it traverses the length of New Zealand’s rugged North Island terrain between the Capital city and its biggest city. Don’t miss the opportunity to spend some time in the last viewing carriage that offers near 360 views from the back of the train! I had always been keen to make the journey and now I had the perfect opportunity.
So as the final day of my long intrepid journey drew to a close as the train grinds its way towards Wellington, I’m now left to reflect on the past 20 months. With the memories, nearly twelve thousand photos, hours of movie footage, four jam packed journals, nearly 100,000 words of website posts and dozens of new friends that should be easy. I can’t help but think though, that I’m going to wake in my bed at home soon (where it’ll not doubt feel as if no time has passed at all), stare at the ceiling and wonder - did any of it actually happen or was it all a dream?
Journey summary and takeaways advice
In the style of the popular song ‘sunscreen’… If I could offer you only one tip for the future, ‘to travel’ would be it. The long term benefits of travel have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable, than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice from now…
For me I feel travel is an incredible privilege. To have the ability to venture to far-away lands, of our choice, and interact with foreign cultures, usually being welcomed with the sincerest warmth, is truly something that should not be taken for granted; as is so easy done these days. In an increasingly global community, with its many challenges (not to mention potential future conflicts over resources in an increasingly abused and over populated world), travel I believe is one of the best methods of dispelling the cross cultural myths, educating the ignorant and developing lifelong friendships which is surely a near perfect way of developing understanding and eliminating prejudice.
After it’s all said and done, after the final curtain has fallen, at the end of the day (insert more closing clichés), the world is just full of good people, is stunningly beautiful and a surprisingly safe place to travel. Don’t get sucked into the dramatizations you see on CNN, BBC and especially FOX as they have their own ‘news’ for content agenda! With that in mind, don’t be afraid to travel to those lesser frequented places; in my experience they not only more rewarding, but you’ll be richer as a result.
