During our holiday to Coromandel (Dec 2024) we took time to ride the Driving Creek railway, an iconic railway built by Barry Brickhill starting in 1975. Brickhill developed the railway to transport the special clay needed for his pottery.  

The train was 250 meters in length. It climbs 120 meters over a 3 kilometers distance. It is made up of ten bridges, three tunnels, about five switchbacks which allow the train to change direction and passes through hand planted forest which includes Kauri, Rimu and ferns. The trip was one hour and 15 mins timewise.  

It is New Zealand’s only narrow gauge railway (381 mm wide track) and was built by hand

On reaching the top you step out into the  cleverly constructed “Eyefull Tower” which provides stunning panoramic views of the whole of the Coromandel countryside.

The view are magnificent but considerations of how Brickhill actually built this railway are almost beyond belief. Definitely well worth the trip.