Mr Gardner, of Auckland, celebrated his birthday yesterday with his wife, Aileen Cutting-Gardner, and about 180 other people marking another event in the history of the Kingston Flyer.
They were the first passengers to take a ride aboard the vintage steam train in more than eight years.
It operated on and off as a heritage train attraction, travelling between Kingston and Fairlight, for a decade from 2003.
In 2011, after a three-year hiatus, it was revived by the late David Bryce, who spent $1.3million restoring the engines and carriages before relaunching the operation.
However, it only ran for two summers before being mothballed. A group of Auckland-based investors bought the train and associated land and buildings in 2017.Yesterday’s return from Kingston to Fairlight was part of the inaugural Great Southern Train Tour, organised by Pounamu Tourism Group.
Mr Gardner said he and his wife had done a similar rail tour in the North Island and when they saw the South Island tour advertised, decided to jump on board.
The Kingston Flyer leg, however, was a surprise.
"We didn’t know it was coming," Mr Gardner said.
"To find out we’re the first on the train for eight years. We’re basically making history."
While he had visited Queenstown before, yesterday was his first trip to Kingston.
Mrs Cutting-Gardner said yesterday’s jaunt was already the highlight of the trip.
Passengers alighted at Fairlight, where glasses of wine, hot drinks and snacks were on offer while the Flyer was turned around for its return to Kingston, ready for the next tour group to arrive in a few days.
