June 2006: Auckland, New Zealand

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority runs its train service out of the Britomart transport centre.

I was in Auckland for one night only, the stop being a transit between Samoa and Singapore. It was a nightlong stop. Not wanting to pay for a hotel, and not wanting to sleep on a seat at the airport, I decided to try my luck at the 24hrs casino in downtown Auckland. It did made about NZ$100 with a 'capital' of NZ$10. Not too shabby, I would say. In the morning, I headed for the Britomart and tried out one of the ARTA trains. The service feels like a city Metro/Underground (correct me if any Kiwi sees this), but some of the train engine looks like they are in for the long haul. It was still early in the morning when I got on the train, and it was dark outside the window. I remember the train I was on was on raised track, and looking down, I could see another line with track running across some bodies of water. In the dim morning lights, as a train runs on the track, it looks like the train was travelling on water. It reminds me of the train in the anime Spirited Away.

The Britomart station is also the starting point of the scenic rail Overlander that runs over the north island between Auckland and Wellington.





--KIV--