The Forgotten Highway

From Tongoriro we drove a few miles South to a turn off and followed the Wanganui River road for around 100 Kms. The Wanganui River is the longest navigable river in New Zealand and the road only follows it for the final third of its journey to the Tasman Sea. The area is remote and as such the first 30 Kms are gravel, and high on a ledge. At the time we drove along it, the road was under going major surgery, and there was mud covering the parts where the diggers and other trucks were working. These plus the wet conditions ensured we slipped and slid around trying to get past the trucks, with the result of giving this road the worst conditions we had seen so far. The scenery made it worthwhile, though, and the river snaked its way through gorges and valley floors, growing at every turn.

Once we emerged at the main road, we headed into Wanganui town for supplies and petrol, before continuing to Taranaki. In Moari legend the mountains of Tongariro were once Chiefs of different Tribes and fought in battles with each other. Taranaki, it is said, was amongst these, but when fighting with Ngauruhoe, Taranaki fled to his current position on the far West coast, nearly 300 miles away. We saw Mount Taranaki from Tongoriro on the clear day we did our big walk, and it looked impressive, so we looked forward to spending the night on its Southern face. It was, however, very cloudy and we didn't get to see it close up. The clouds in the morning cleared enough to see to the snow, but only the very bottom layers. Disappointed we headed off to the forgotten world highway, which is a stretch of road leading through grassy, hilly, dairy land and looks a lot like Teelytubbie land.

The Highway is supposed to lead through country inhabited by oldie worldie new Zealanders who still live the 'community' way and away from crime. It is also remote like so much of New Zealand. We stopped at Whangamomoana, which, because of their district lines moving, formed itself as a republic in the 90's and has a president, and you can also get your passport stamped in the local hotel, which we did after a few beers. The bar man was similar to Basil Fawlty, except smiley and happy.

The next day we finished the remainder of the highway, and headed towards Waitomo...