Express offer to Orokonui Ecosanctuary

From tomorrow, passengers travelling on the Taieri Gorge Railway's summer Seasider trains can choose to board the "Orokonui Express" and combine the trip with a guided tour of Orokonui Ecosanctuary.

The Seasider train usually offers a half-day trip between Dunedin and Palmerston on 46 days through the summer.

Those booking for the Orokonui experience will travel by train from Dunedin to Waitati, and then transfer to a 22-seater bus for their trip to the eco-sanctuary.

At the ecosanctuary, they will receive a 90-minute guided tour, followed by a bus trip to Port Chalmers, from where they will catch the train back to Dunedin.

While the ecosanctuary is not yet officially open, guided tours of the predator-proof enclosure are being conducted.

Ecosanctuary marketing manager Pip Dalgliesh said the bus transfers would include a commentary about Port Chalmers and a scenic stop.

The guided tour of the ecosanctuary would give visitors an opportunity to see its rarest treasures, as well as the more common native birds which had made their home there, while walking as small groups through native bush.

Species people could see would include kaka, the South Island saddleback, tomtits, bellbirds, wood pigeons and New Zealand's smallest bird, the rifleman.

Once the ecosanctuary was officially opened, a shuttle tour service that included the 90-minute guided walk would be offered four days a week, in conjunction with Headfirst Travel, she said.

Tickets for the Seasider option would cost $105 for adults and $35 for a child accompanied by an adult.

The cost of the express shuttle trip from Dunedin and back would be $75 for an adult and $35 for a child.

Ms Dalgliesh said people who were interested in going on the train trips needed to check the dates with the Taieri Gorge Railway.