Driving Creek Railway — Local services in North Island

Positive: cheerful check in counter lady, great train ride, enjoyable commentary from conductor/driver.

Negative: the feel good feeling was ruined by the service from the Solo cafe. The cafe needs to have better payment system. It was insulting and not a nice feeling to be accused of "stealing" a can of drink that I was drinking (that was bought and paid for at the main counter) when I joined my friend who was waiting for the ice cream order.

We were confused when the ice cream guy asked if I was paying for both items (drink and ice cream), when the only item that was unpaid was the ice cream.

Had I been in combative mode, I would have asked the lady who took the drink payment to tell him that she took my payment. Banking app would show the indisputable proof that the drink had been paid for.

However, I should NOT have to defend myself nor should I been thinking about showing those proof, had the cafe use ONE counter instead of two (one near ice cream, one on the other side) for payment. Please sort that one out guys so you don't ruin anyone else's day. And if you have had problems with people stealing things from you, perhaps you need to look at your payment system to make sure both the customers and yourself are protected.

The incident left a bitter taste. What was worse, we actually had a very enjoyable lunch at their main Solo branch prior to that, and I complimented them on the really nice food.

An apology would have been the decent thing to do, instead of saying "I trust what you said (that you've paid)".

Sad to say my mind now have associated Driving Creek Railway with that bad experience. I will not be recommending the train ride to overseas visitors without mentioning the "watch out for the cafe payment system" clause. It ruined a perfectly nice day for me. It's not worth spending 7 hours on the road to visit a place with that kind of...

Driving Creek Railway is New Zealand's steepest railway and the only narrow gauge railway. The potter Barry BrickelI was the builder of this narrow-gauge railway. He built the first narrow-gauge railway as a garden railway from 1961 and operated it until 1973. Then it gave way to a new building with a larger rail route. The final expansion of the route lasted until 2002. As early as 1984, tourism generated higher income than from the pottery. From 1990, Barry Brickell received state approval to transport people and sell tickets. So there is both passenger and freight traffic (clay and firewood for pottery and workshop. There is a point of sale for clay products and souvenirs at the valley station.

The narrow-gauge railway with a 381 mm track width begins in the pottery and ends after 2.7 km and 110 m higher at a viewing platform. During a 30-minute train journey up to the viewing platform, you cross three tunnels, change the direction of travel on 5 hairpin bends and drive over 5 larger bridges. Whereby you cross one of the bridges after the first crossing with a subsequent hairpin loop a second time in a different direction, but on a different level.

The numerous helpers in the construction of the railway seem to have been very thirsty, many meters of the retaining walls, especially before and after the tunnels, were fastened with thousands of bottles, of which only the ground was smiling at the travelers. Also interesting are the sometimes funny clay figures that you can admire while driving. The vegetation is also...

We were looking forward to the drive up the Coromandel Peninsula to visit DCR for a unique tour through the hilly forest. What a treat it turned out to be! Beautiful scenery from roads right beside the sea to mountain roads through forests, ending up on the northern edge of the Coromandel township at DCR. Our online booking was ready and quickly found by the very friendly staff member who welcomed us. Our only disappointment was that the cafe wasn’t open, for some reason, so we couldn’t buy a nice coffee while we waited for the train. Even though our train was full, it still felt like a cosy, friendly group and we had enough space for comfort. The scenery was stunning in so many different ways! We loved the arty displays along the route, including a lot of pottery designs. One tunnel was lined with pottery tiles depicting some of the rail history - we were so impressed. I noticed a tiny table, no more than 10cm square, made in pottery, that was set for a tea party! Probably one of the smallest artworks there, but the attention to detail and ability to surprise was exquisite! We watched a zip-line group arriving back at base - it looked fantastic. I would’ve tried it if I was younger and more able! We enjoyed a short walk to the entrance of an old mine as well as a pest-free wild life enclosure. More information on both would have been welcome, though. Would I recommend this and go back if I get a chance? Yes, in a heartbeat! The experience is not over-presented like a tourist trap, and feels so natural. A...