Tuesday: Your Steam Journey Begins: Auckland – Tongariro National Park
We’ll depart from Auckland’s historic old Railway station and travel south via the Auckland waterfront, through the fertile farmland of the Waikato. We’ll follow the mighty Waikato River to Waitomo, where you can visit live Kiwis or tour the incredible limestone formations of the Waitomo Caves.
Then we’ll follow the Main Trunk Line through the King Country before travelling up one of New Zealand’s most impressive engineering feats: the Raurimu Spiral.
Wednesday: Tongariro National Park to Palmerston North
This morning you could play golf, tennis or croquet or visit the excellent Department of Conservation Visitor Centre. If you start early you have time to take the chairlift right to the top of the Mt Ruapehu ski runs.
Later in the morning we’ll drive to the ski town of Ohakune , or you can take the optional spectacular flight over the mountains. Once on board the train, we’ll travel the many spectacular viaducts of the Rangitikei Valley before descending to the Manawatu.
Thursday: Palmerston North to Wellington via Wairarapa
Today we’ll travel through the magnificent Manawatu Gorge before heading south across the Wairarapa region.
It’s one of the country’s premier wine regions and you may choose to wander around the town of Masterton or you can take either the Martinborough Wine Trail tour or a Wairarapa Gardens Tour.
For railfans, we stop en route at the Pahiatua Railcar Museum and when we get to Masterton have an excursion to the Fell Museum home of the unique and historic locomotive that used to climb the very steep Rimutaka Incline using the “Fell” system.
On our final evening in Wellington we’ll celebrate a very special dinner to farewell those leaving the North Island Steam Explorer and welcome those joining us for the South Island Steam Explorer.
Discover Aotearoa/New Zealand’s diverse environment, its unique culture and stunning natural beauty … in a most relaxed way – by historic steam train. 
Watch the whisps of smoke drift by as you pass through the “Lord of the Rings” scenery and let the motion stimulate the emotion of a bygone era!
A two day Christchurch – Greymouth steam hauled adventure. This year Jb1236 will take us through the heart of the Southern Alps for our overnight stay in Greymouth.
Travel on trains with comfortable seating, air conditioning, and wide panoramic windows. Enjoy the food and beverage service while listening to the informative commentaries. Train speed normally does not exceed 100 kilometres ( 60 miles ) per hour.
to visit the towns collection of fine whitestone buildings. Continue south past the picturesque Blue Skin Bay and traverse over Killmog Hill to reach Dunedin. This afternoon you may wish to join the Taieri Gorge Railway New Zealand’s spectacular historic rail journey – crossing giant viaducts and passing through ever changing scenery.