RAILWAYS OF THE PACIFIC WONDERLAND

Rights Information
Year
1939
Reference
F2145
Media type
Moving image
Ask about this item

Ask to use material, get more information or tell us about an item

Rights Information
Year
1939
Reference
F2145
Media type
Moving image
Place of production
New Zealand/Aotearoa
Duration
0:11:42
Production company
NZ Government Film Studio

A tour of New Zealand by steam train, beginning in Wellington rail yards with the maintenance of locomotives. Scenic views of Wellington include the Botanical Gardens, the Majestic Theatre, the CML Building, James Smith's on intersection of Cuba & Manners Streets and the harbour. The guard rings the bell and the train (K923) leaves Wellington railway station.

Views of Chateau Tongariro and a snow covered Mt Tongariro. A group preparing to ski.

The train arrives at the Auckland Railway Station with a view of Auckland Harbour Memorial in foreground. Queen Street busy with traffic and pedestrians.

The Rotorua express pulls into station. Well dressed tourists disembark train and board motor coaches. Rotorua Bath House. Man diving at the Blue Baths. A Maori group perform poi and men haka. Pākehā tourists are shown the steaming pools by a Maori guide.

“And away to the South Island...” Lyttelton railway yard. Busy streets of Christchurch. The train passes through Caroline Bay in Timaru, then Oamaru and Dunedin. Dunedin courthouse, St Kilda Beach and the Cathedral in the Octagon. Mt Cook and Southern Alps with skiers. The train enters Otira Tunnel and passes through native bush and a coal mine on the West Coast. Then Queenstown with the Earnslaw on Wakatipu.