Whangamomona – here we come

Climbing up and over four mountain saddles, State Highway 43, dubbed as “The Forgotten World Highway”, stretches 150km between Stratford and Taumarunui.  The road took 50 years to complete and was opened in 1945, and is dotted here and there with the remains of settlements.  The towns supported the many men who worked on constructing the railway line between Stratford and Okahukura.  This wonderfully historic piece of road was the first Heritage Trail to be established in New Zealand, and takes travellers through spectacular scenery.  We were stopping for several nights at the tiny settlement of Whangamomona,  situated about halfway along the route.  

 

Start of the Forgotten World Highway at Stratford

Up and over the Whangamomona Saddle

Our five vans trundled into Whangamomono Motor Camp hoping there was room for us all, as we had been unable to make contact with the camp manager earlier in the week.  Luckily there were power sites to go around, a bonus after we had spent the previous three nights camping off power at Hawera.

All hooked up to power in camp

The historic Whangamomona Hotel is the heart and soul of this tiny place.  The present hotel was built in 1911, replacing the previous pub which opened in 1902 and burnt down 8 years later.    A local story tells that the hotel was once sold with a wife transferred as part payment.  The building also served as a hospital during the 1919 influenza epidemic.  We remembered the current friendly owners from our previous visit here three years ago, and booked a table for dinner for our group the following evening. 

 

The famous Whangamomona Hotel

Geoff, Jenny and Robin enjoying an ice-cream in the pub

The arrival of mail was always of great importance to the early settlers and postal facilities opened in 1895 at McCluggages Store ‘just along the road.  The old Post Office building took over these duties some years later.  It was opened in 1912 and closed in 1988, and now looks very sad indeed.   

Old Post Office building

Walking back to camp from the pub we noticed an awful lot of empty derelict houses along the street.  A friendly goat bleated at us as we walked by, looking for a bit of company, it seemed.  In fact, there were goats everywhere – guess they are used as lawn mowers in this part of the world.

It will be early to bed for us on our first night in camp – we are off on our “Forgotten World Rail Adventure” in the morning.  Should be great fun!