Graham Hutchins

Sit back and enjoy the ride while Graham Hutchins takes you on a journey of discovery around New Zealand.

Starting in the deep south with the steam-driven Kingston Flyer and the historic Taieri Gorge Railway, he describes a dozen unique rail journeys, ending up at Auckland’s 21st-century Britomart Station. He joins tourists from around the world on the celebrated TranzAlpine Express, travels the major TranzCoastal and Overlander lines, and explores a number of shorter trips en route, including the special Art Deco excursion train to Napier.

Hutchins’ narrative is always lively and entertaining — a personal travelogue in which he describes the main features of the landscape while enjoying conversations with fellow-travellers he meets along the way.

Well informed on New Zealand’s past, he offers fascinating historical information on the areas he is passing through, mourns the lines that have been lost, and for dedicated rail buffs he also provides technical details about the trains themselves.

Accompanied by many superb photographs of New Zealand’s incomparable scenery, this is a book to treasure — and to return to again and again.

read an extract >>

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Graham Hutchins is a long-time rail enthusiast who has written several books on New Zealand railways, as well as many others on rugby, cricket, rock music and other subjects. He believes that a rail resurgence in New Zealand is just through the next tunnel, and this book reflects his optimism about the future of train travel in “the land of the long white cloud”. Graham Hutchins is a full-time writer living in Hamilton.

Exisle Publishing have proudly entered Great New Zealand Railway Journeys into the Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book of the Year award. Place your vote for this beautifully written book by clicking on this link:
Readers' Choice Award 2009

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Reviews

‘This is a beautifully written book, with extensive and stunning photographs, and is a must for all rail-travel enthusiasts, for whom train travel is one of the world's profound pleasures.’ Timaru Herald

“Now and again I come into contact with a publication that brings to life the many, many journeys my family and I had on the New Zealand Railway system. Reading through this volume, I can hear once again the struggle of the locomotives as they take up the slack and move the heavy passenger trains forward to their destinatations, while the passengers sit back and sip their tea and eat their fruit cake after a refreshment stop.  Or hear the whine of the English electric unit as it travels around the curves of the Ngaio Gorge just out of Wellington. The very life-like colour photographs just add to the realism of things.”  Malcolm Ross, Yarn, October 2008

“A tribute to the spirit of rail travel, Hutchins includes the expected journeys such as Central Otago's Kingston Flyer and The TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth. But also some less predictable such as the Auckland to Waitakere line and the Capital Connection, between Wellington and Palmerston North.  A fascinating blend of social and transportation history.”  Herald on Sunday

“Long after trains ceased to make economic sense, rail travel continues to fascinate.  A jaunt on a train, coasting through beautiful landscape, is more therapy than travel. This book collects in words and gorgeous pictures a dozen great New Zealand journeys, including the Kingston Flyer, the TranzAlpine Express, the Capital Connection, the Overlander, the Art Deco Express.” The Dominion Post

“We have some of the most stunning railway journeys in the world. And as the 2006 uproar about the proposed closure of the Auckland to Wellington Overlander shows, we do actually rather cherish them … There is certain magic in train travel … A little nostalgia, mixed with industrial grunt, mixed with a stunning scenic backdrop and more than enough time to read the paper or even better a copy of Great New Zealand Railways Journeys — a book that masterfully captures the beauty of New Zealand railway.” M2 Magazine

“You do not have to be a rail fan to enjoy this book — it would be of interest to anyone who enjoys travel. The author has gone to great lengths to explain what New Zealand has to offer the tourist when travelling by rail. Overall, a well-presented book, well worth the purchase.”  Gisborne Herald.  Read full review >>

Otago Daily Times review >>

Radio Interview with Jim Mora >>

Waikato Times article >>

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SPECIFICATIONS
Size: 210 x 280mm
Format: Cased with jacket
Extent: 176 pages
Weight: 1.1 kilo
ISBN: 978-1-877437-28-1
Publication date: September 2008