Forgotten World Highway

Our next adventure on Owen and Helen’s safari was a two day trip along the Forgotten World Highway, SH43) starting from Stratford.  We had done this trip a couple of times in earlier years, but for some of our friends, it was their first time, and one or two were a trifle apprehensive about the trip. There was a handy dump station at the start of SH43 and while Robin was attending to this I went over the road to see the sale yards in action.  The auctioneer was in full voice as each lot was herded in, and the farmers were watching intently as the stock was bought and sold.

Stock auction

SH43 is New Zealand’s oldest heritage trail at 155kms long and follows ancient Maori trade routes and pioneering farm tracks.  On day one we drove up and over three saddles, the Strathmore Saddle, the Pohokura Saddle, named after a prominent Maori chief, and the Whangamomona Saddle.  This one, in our opinion, had the loveliest views, the landscape was full of lush ferns and native trees.

Driving over the Whangamomona Saddle

Eventually we arrived at our stop for the night, the Whangamomona Campground, formerly the local school.  We all slotted into spaces, and over the afternoon the camp filled up with more and more caravans and motorhomes, including two cyclists from Austria.  We watched them erect their tiny tent, they must have been exhausted after biking up and over all those hills all day.

Whangamomona Camp

This settlement, first settled in 1895, was once a bustling frontier town.  The 300 residents worked on roading and railway construction, and farming.  Farm mergers and rationisation took place in the 1960s, and the population declined to about 20 residents.  When changes to the local boundarys were mooted, the locals strongly disagreed and declared themselves a Republic in 1989, and held their own Presidential Elections.  The famous Republic Day is held every two years and attracts visitors from far and wide, and Presidents have included a dog and a goat, with the occasional local wearing the chains of office too.  We spent our “happy hour” at the famous Whangamomona Hotel and the boss would have been delighted with our 14 strong visit.  As well as enjoying beer, wine, or in my case coffee, four of our group purchased a black Whangamomona tee shirt – Robin already had one so made sure he wore it down to the pub.

 

Whangamomona Hotel

Gemma was intrigued by the chickens and a very large rooster patrolling the camp grounds.  She watched them safely behind our screen door, oh, to be free to chase them.  By the size of the chooks, I think she would come off second best.

 

Come closer, chickens

The next morning we continued on the second half of our journey, with one more saddle to conquer, the Tahora Saddle, and next up was the Moki Tunnel.  The single-lane 180m long Moki Tunnel was built in 1936 and is known locally as the 'Hobbit's Hole'. Home to fossilized giant crabs, the floor of the tunnel was lowered in 1989, increasing the height to 7m to allow access for triple-decked stock trucks. It has a timber gabled roof and hand carved walls. 

Moki Tunnel, Hobbit’s Hole

Then we stopped at the lay by close to the burial place of Joshua Morgan, who surveyed this rugged area in the 1890s.  He had proposed five tunnels to be constructed along this route, but the Moki Tunnel was the only one which went ahead.  In March 1893 surveyor Joshua Morgan, aged 35, was working in the Tangarakau Gorge when he became ill, probably with peritonitis. Two of his chainmen walked to get medical help from the nearest doctor, 50 kilometres away – but they were too late, and there was little a doctor could have done. Morgan was buried where he died, on the banks of the river. His grave is now a sobering stop for travelers on the remote, winding Forgotten World Highway.

Grave of early surveyor, Joshua Morgan

We continued driving along the Tangarakau Gorge, which seemed to go on and on, eventually arriving at Taumarunui where we were stopping at the Piriaka NZMCA campsite for the evening.  We must have forgotten just how long the second part of this trip was, mind you, the road was extremely narrow and winding, so we had to keep our speed right down.  This site was previously the home of the Kaitieke Co-operative Dairy Co which opened in 1912.

At Piriaka

So all our group have safely driven SH43 and lived to tell the tale.  Yes, the road is narrow, and at one stage we had an approaching  truck and two cars back up to give us room to get past.  Towing a big van can sometimes be tricky, but if all motorists are courteous and drive with care, there shouldn’t be too many problems on this road.