If you're ever on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, you owe it to yourself to enjoy what is arguably the Best Burger In the World and perhaps the second best tempura-coated fish and chips in the world, from the whacked out stoners at the Blue Zephyr Takeaways in Granity. A tiny former mining town town comprising two takeaway places, a pub and a sprinkling of houses, Granity and nearby Waimangaroa lie nestled between the mountains and the sea near the base of the former Denniston Incline - a fascinating cable-worked line that used the weight of loaded coal wagons to pull empty ones up 500 vertical metres/yards at gradients of almost 45 degrees up to the mines on the Denniston Plateau. Anyway... one night in April 2008 I was enjoying said burger and a small bottle of cider from said pub while watching the sun set over the sea and planning my night shot of train 849. The empty coalie promptly arrived with a pair of Toll locos on the front - a truely horrible paint scheme but at least they were clean - and I ended up with the stock Waimangaroa bridge shot. I'd always wanted a night shot here, but I really drove all that way for the burger...
Trains on 3' 6" (1.067m) track from Whangarei to Bluff with virtually heritage rebuilt EMD and GE locomotives still the mainstay power. The network was privatized in 1990's and operated by Toll until 2008 when state owned KiwiRail was established.
