Merry Christmas...

...to me!
Part of my Christmas gift from B was to ride the "Marlborough Flyer" A steam engine running from Blenheim to Kaikoura and back and Friday was the day it happened.
We left Blenheim at 8 am and headed off for Kaikoura but we had an addition of a diesel locomotive as due to the drought we have endured through the summer a previous run had the fire services along the route putting out grass fires set off from sparks from the engine when working hard. We did run on steam but not all the time and the diesel that was on the front of the train swapped around with the steam and that hauled it into and out of Kaikoura. With several stops for water, to swap engines and a top up with coal we made it back to Blenheim just before 5 pm.
I'll not bore you with all the history of the steam locomotive but if you would like to know more its life story is here.
I did manage to get onto the footplate for a couple shots!
The carraige we were in was built in 1904.

The weather was kind although the breeze had a chill in it at times.