While touring the Coromandel Penisula near Auckland, NZ we visited the DCR and even met the 76 year old designer/owner Barry Brickell. It took him 32 years to get to this stage and it is amazing. After buying this 60 acre hilly scrub-covered land in 1973, he built major viaducts, 3 short tunnels, 2 spirals and 5 reversing points to elevate the railway up to the top at the Eyefull Tower (and has 3 trains).
In 1961 Barry became New Zealand's first Kiwi-born fulltime handcraft potter. All along the wooded train track he has placed pottery and glass art work, and recently had one of he workers (or train engineer) design and build a wooden waterwheel just because he wanted one! Barry is bent on reestablishing native trees and plants that have been destroyed by the foresting that has been done in the whole ares, so we saw new kauri trees of various sizes along the track. Initially they grow about a foot a year from limb to limb, amazing and beautiful.
The DCR is a wonderful attraction of art, conservation and engineering
