The walk through the Kawatiri tunnel

At only 185 metres long, you don’t really need a torch to walk through the old Kawatiri rail tunnel, and being without a torch adds to the eerie, damp atmosphere. The tunnel cuts through granite, and digging out the tunnel was hard work. At first, workers had only hand tools for digging the holes dynamite was placed in, and rubble was cleared using picks and shovels. Later, once about a third of the tunnel had been cut, a compressor was available, making drilling easier. Altogether, work on the tunnel took three years. The tunnel was only in use for five years before the Glenhope-Kawatiri section of the line was closed in 1931.