Vintage train jouorney through extraordinary natural sculptural landscape
Weka Pass there are plenty of things to do. Evocative names such as Frog Rock make you want to check out the place. Visitors get to travel on one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s best vintage train rides. Together with ancient rock drawings, distinctive shell and fossils embedded in the exposed cliffs this is one journey nobody wants to miss.
WHAT TO DO HIGHLIGHTS
- Weka Pass Historic Reserve take an easy 40-minute walk to a large overhang shelter that features examples of early Māori rock art along the way look at exposed cliffs for evidence of shells and fossils
- Weka Pass Railway trip will be a memorable holiday occasion. A premier visitor experience.
Weka Pass Railway is a vintage rural railway traversing the limestone beauty of the Weka Pass out from the small settlement of Waipara. The tracks cross farmland, irrigation reservoir and vineyards before climbing grades as steep as 1:50 (2%) as it winds through cuttings in the Pass. Frog Rock and The Seal. The Pass is home to various species of bird, including the weka, kaka, and kiwi, and was also home to the extinct moa.
BEST TIME TO GO
- When the vintage train is operating
WHERE TO TAKE THE BEST SELFIE
- On the train of course
SOCIAL MEDIA
HEROES
- Nineteenth century unsung workers who in the 1880’s moved tons of clay and limestone by hand to form all the cuttings and large embankments. The Weka Pass section was completed in just over two years. The land was once under the sea and some of the surrounding limestone rocks have weathered into unusual shapes. Most notable are Frog Rock and Seal Rock, in the middle of the Weka Pass. Seashells and fossils may be seen in the walls of many cuttings. The line opened to Waikari in 1882
NOTORIETY
- Vandals, archaeologists in the 1920’s had the ancient rock drawings over-painted in red and back house paint destroying their archaeological value.
WHO TURNED UP AND NAMED THE PLACE
- Weka Pass is a locality in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island between the towns of Waipara and Waikari. The area is named after the weka, a native bird.
POPULATION
- Permanent population – 0 (zero)
WEATHER
Getting there
TRAVEL PACK INFORMATION
Every town adds to the richness of things to do and see. For more details about the region check Christchurch & Canterbury Region nearby attractions and events.
- Regular passenger services were withdrawn in 1939 and the Waiau Branch closed on January 15th, 1978. The line to Waikari was purchased by the Weka Pass Railway Inc. after the end of a union embargo in 1983.
- Weka Pass is located in northern Canterbury between the towns of Waipara and Waikari. The Waipara River gradually cut a bed through the soft limestone and mudstone creating distinctive limestone formation.
Unique journeys, personal adventures.
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