Pleasant Point; a trip back into old New Zealand
May 2nd 2010 01:41
Once it was a thriving railway town, a busy stop on the way from Timaru to the fabled Mackenzie country, the secret pastures high in the mountains, where the notorious outlaw led his stolen flocks beyond the reach of the long arm of the law. But now, most of the time, Pleasant Point (so named because it was a pleasant resting point on the hard slog into the highlands) is as still as painted town.
The train no longer runs, the high school has closed, the Post Office has been re-born as a cafe, the doors of St Joseph’s Catholic Church open only once a fortnight for Sunday Mass and the streets are largely silent and deserted.
But come the weekends and the school holidays, Pleasant Point bursts into bustling life again. Still it’s not life as we in the 21st century know it. It’s life in the town’s 19th and 20st century heyday.
Last Easter Monday, with a couple of cynical and techno-wired, young urban 7 and 9 year olds, we took a step back into old Pleasant Point. The Easter Bunny, with a bucket of eggs and forms for an Easter colouring competition, greeted us at the gate to the railway station. Good start! Ah the timeless and universal appeal of chocolate! Ah the age-old challenge of the colouring competition!
The station gleamed and sparkled with bells and brass. Red-painted fire buckets swung from its wall and quaint old sign hung from above. “Platform 3 ½ ” shrieked the 9 year old. We queued at a small wire grille to buy our ticket, while behind us, the old Fairlie Flyer blew impatient clouds of steam across the platform. We pounded through the carriages from Kiwi the Engine to Perky Pukeko and finally fell into the green padded seats of first class Tana Tuatara and with a clang of station bells, a hiss of steam and a toot of the whistle we were off.
Our tickets were clipped by a cheery, burly, rosy cheeked chap in black cap and brass buttons “Fat Controller!” whispered the 7 year-old. Then there was barely time for guessing the number of Easter Eggs hidden in the carriage lamps, two attempts each at opening and closing the windows and one attempt each at swinging from the mesh luggage racks, before we reached the end of the line.
There a large railway shed held a treasure trove for kids in any century; a jumping castle, more engines, carriages and box cars and best of all a Doctor Who exhibition, run by an afficanado (in full Doctor Who dress) None of the Darleks, Tardeks, Doctor dolls, books, posters, videos or other paraphernalia were on sale, the good doctor was simply sharing his lifetime collection and knowledge for the love it. A new experience for the “see it, like it, buy it, NOW!” generation.
Outside in the sunshine, on a siding, we discovered another treasure of the old railway world – a jigger. We entertained ourselves while we waited for the return train to the Point Station by pushing and pulling ourselves up and down the line.
We’d taken the rides, we’d seen the exhibitions, we’d entered the competitions, we’d talked to the people, we’d tried everything that opened and shut on the Fairlie Flyer. There was only one last, very special and very fitting way to end our morning in old Pleasant Point – with a Hokey Pokey ice-cream from the Dairy.
Main Street, Pleasant Point
The train no longer runs, the high school has closed, the Post Office has been re-born as a cafe, the doors of St Joseph’s Catholic Church open only once a fortnight for Sunday Mass and the streets are largely silent and deserted.
Pleasant point Station
But come the weekends and the school holidays, Pleasant Point bursts into bustling life again. Still it’s not life as we in the 21st century know it. It’s life in the town’s 19th and 20st century heyday.
The Fairlie Flyer
Last Easter Monday, with a couple of cynical and techno-wired, young urban 7 and 9 year olds, we took a step back into old Pleasant Point. The Easter Bunny, with a bucket of eggs and forms for an Easter colouring competition, greeted us at the gate to the railway station. Good start! Ah the timeless and universal appeal of chocolate! Ah the age-old challenge of the colouring competition!
The First Class Carriage
The station gleamed and sparkled with bells and brass. Red-painted fire buckets swung from its wall and quaint old sign hung from above. “Platform 3 ½ ” shrieked the 9 year old. We queued at a small wire grille to buy our ticket, while behind us, the old Fairlie Flyer blew impatient clouds of steam across the platform. We pounded through the carriages from Kiwi the Engine to Perky Pukeko and finally fell into the green padded seats of first class Tana Tuatara and with a clang of station bells, a hiss of steam and a toot of the whistle we were off.
Our tickets were clipped by a cheery, burly, rosy cheeked chap in black cap and brass buttons “Fat Controller!” whispered the 7 year-old. Then there was barely time for guessing the number of Easter Eggs hidden in the carriage lamps, two attempts each at opening and closing the windows and one attempt each at swinging from the mesh luggage racks, before we reached the end of the line.
There a large railway shed held a treasure trove for kids in any century; a jumping castle, more engines, carriages and box cars and best of all a Doctor Who exhibition, run by an afficanado (in full Doctor Who dress) None of the Darleks, Tardeks, Doctor dolls, books, posters, videos or other paraphernalia were on sale, the good doctor was simply sharing his lifetime collection and knowledge for the love it. A new experience for the “see it, like it, buy it, NOW!” generation.
Outside in the sunshine, on a siding, we discovered another treasure of the old railway world – a jigger. We entertained ourselves while we waited for the return train to the Point Station by pushing and pulling ourselves up and down the line.
We’d taken the rides, we’d seen the exhibitions, we’d entered the competitions, we’d talked to the people, we’d tried everything that opened and shut on the Fairlie Flyer. There was only one last, very special and very fitting way to end our morning in old Pleasant Point – with a Hokey Pokey ice-cream from the Dairy.
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