The Forgotten World Highway
Visiting a Kiwi backwater complete with its own independent republic!
“The
Forgotten World Highway”, even the name has a ring of mystery , something of
the “Jurassic park” about it. In my mind I pictured forests of tree ferns and
swooping pterodactyls, the reality whilst a little more prosaic is no less
stunning and memorable.
The
road, officially known as New Zealand State Highway 43, winds 150km from the
Anglophile, Shakespeare themed town of Stratford to Taumarunui, a small town in
King Country that was near the centre of the New Zealand land wars. We weren’t
going the whole way but had decided to travel as far as the Mount Damper Falls
which depending on who you were listening to were somewhere between the highest
and fifth highest falls on the North Island. The road was obviously not built
with campervans in mind but as we rolled out of Stratford, the traffic
instantly lessened and before long we were driving through pure Kiwi rural
countryside, rolling green hills dotted with sheep and farms nestled deep in
valleys and half the time only detected by plumes of chimney smoke rising from
the valley floor. The occasional tractor puttered by and coming in the opposite
direction we were passed by other campervans with Irish tricolours and US Stars
and Stripes proudly declaring their rugby allegiances ahead of their New
Plymouth clash.
The
views from the Strathmore Saddle promised a spectacular vista taking in the
perfect volcanic cone of Mt Taranaki and the three volcanoes of the Tongariro
National Park, however after crawling to the top of this famous viewpoint we
were greeted with a view of little more than the cloud which gives New Zealand
its Maori name of Aotearoa. We carried on over two further
saddles before entering the Independent Republic of Whangamomona, a small
village that declared itself a Republic in 1989 in a row at having half the
township transferred from the Taranaki district to the Manawatu region (and if
you compare the two regions rugby results you can understand their desire to
remain part of the ‘Naki). Whilst Whangamomona seems little more than a ghost
town the hotel was a pretty impressive and we resolved to stop off for some
lunch on our way back to Stratford.
Heading towards Mount Damper Falls, the roads
got narrower, the landscape less manicured and apart from fields full of
adorable piglets we really felt as if we were in a forgotten world. We passed a
solitary farmer before a tiny carpark and scruffy sign told us we were
somewhere within the vicinity of the Falls. We followed a rough, boggy path
across some fields before descending through cool, shady forest towards the
sound of water crashing over rocks. A sight like Mount Damper would, in the UK,
be crowded even on a quiet Wednesday, there would probably be an ice cream van
and shops in the local area would sell postcards, but there was nothing of this
nature here and we spent an hour admiring the falls without seeing another
person.
The highway had seduced us and we decided to
spend the night “overseas” in Whangamomona. The campsite is set in the old
school grounds opposite the cemetery and the rugby pitch and the whole place
has the eerie feel of a Wild West ghost town. The caretaker opened up the old
school hall for us to watch Tonga v Canada on the TV and after the game we made
our way through the flock of chickens and up to the magnificent hotel for a
“Kiwi supper” of beer and pie. The hotel is a beautiful old building and a
repository for the intriguing history of the town/republic (including the time
they elected a goat as Republic president). We spent a convivial night with one
or two of the few remaining locals and the campsites only other visitors before
leaving the forgotten world behind the next day and rather regretfully heading
for the bright lights of New Plymouth!
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