great train journeys of the world part 2 in this series
situated near a town called charleston north of greymouth
an enterprising chap who renamed mainless
used to take people on treks up this river valley
the destination being a large glow-worm cave
with the river running through the cave
and so floating on a rubber tube in complete darkness
provides a spectacular way to experience this unique bit of nature
however it seems the long-ish walk in seemed to deter some people
so he decided to build a railway from scratch to transport tourists in
budgetted about 60 thousand dollars and ended up spending 400
built the train from the remains of a morris 1100 car
and hand built the narrow-gauge track and station platforms
a real work of love you could say
he was the guide for the day and had some interesting stories to tell
the nile river music festival used to be held every easter in the valley
but one year of extremely bad weather wiped them out financially
shame really as the natural amphitheatre there was quite stunning
the train journey alongside the river takes about 15 minutes
and from there it's a walk through the rainforest
across a very robust swing-bridge
and down to the beautifully fresh green-water river
in the meantime the train engine has been attached to the other end
and the return journey takes place along the same track
all very low-key and intentionally so
long may it last
