FORGOTTEN WORLD BY ROAD

The enigmatic State Highway 43 starts in the shadow of the perfect text book volcanic cone of Mt Taranaki at Stratford and runs for 155km to Tauramunui in the Central Plateau of The North Island with Mt Ruapehu looming.  SH43 is known as The Forgotten World Highway.

It may be badged as New Zealand's oldest touring route but, as we found, this is no easy scenic drive.  The dramatic volcanic landscape provides a stunning scenic illustration of how pioneers battled against isolation and the native bush in trying to farm the land.

There is no fuel, no communications and the few settlements that remain are now merely ghosts of the time when the battle against nature was being waged.  At Whangamomona, the village proudly claims it is a Republic and invites you to collect your passports at the hotel.  Apparently the Presidential elections are held biennially in January.

Whangamomona

Progress is slow as the road climbs in twists and turns over four natural saddles but each time the effort is rewarded with views towards the dramatic peaks of the Central Plateau: Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe.

A 16km section of this State Highway remains unsealed as a gravel road through the Tangarakau Gorge.  This is probably as close as you can get to experience being in a rain forest in a 4 tonne motorhome!

Tangarakau Gorge

And those tunnels!  We had a taster at the Makahu Tunnel but we were a little unnerved when chatting to a fellow motorhome driver who had just come through the Moki Tunnel.  He said he was still so tense it felt that he had two steel rods in his shoulders.  He strongly advised that we turned back.  And fellow Brits we met at a lunch picnic spot raised their eyebrows when we said we were doing the full route; they had hated the tunnel and they were only touring in a small hire car!  But there was no realistic option to turn back;  it was already mid afternoon and the detour would be a slow 325km! We settled for pressing on.

Makahu Tunnel

We made it through the Moki Tunnel (which is known locally as Hobbit's Hole) without incident but had hardly sighed with relief when we encountered some more obstacles.

Hobbit's Hole

Yet more obstacles!

We have written before about the isolation and remoteness of some of the highways we have experienced in New Zealand but The Forgotten World Highway takes this to a new level.  What an extraordinary scenic drive.