Forgotten Highway

(Molly) State Highway 43, running from Stratford to Tamarunui, is known as the Forgotten World Highway, and is on the list of 101 Life Must-Dos for Kiwis. We had a 2-day weekend this past weekend (after a stretch of 9 in a row for me - ouch!), so we got up early, made our coffees and hit the road on Saturday morning.



This tunnel is at the very beginning, when we were still very thrilled and interested in every road-side stop and point of interest. I look like a ghost here! The tunnel was built in the early 1900s and later lowered in 1994 by 1.4 meters to allow for trucks to go through. It is only one lane and you can just barely see the other side when you enter - You've got to watch out for the crazy Kiwi drivers! The tourist descriptions, however, are correct. The views are gorgeous, the people are friendly (everyone waves at you) -- we spent most of the morning saying "Whoooaaaa." It's also pretty rural, though, with some unpaved portions, as well as about 100 m stretch of fence with pig skins hung out to dry...then we saw the truck with what we think were said pigs associated entrails. Too graphic for pictures. Ick.

We stayed in Tamarunui at the other end of the highway in a little hotel. Lonely Planet didn't recommend much in this tiny town except eating at Flax, a cute little restaurant on the edge of town. We liked dinner so much (chicken curry and veggie pizza) that we went back for brekkie (as the Kiwis say) the next day. Patrick is in looooooove with his Eggs Benedict. The night life left a little lacking...there was a sports bar across the street from our hotel where we thought we would watch the All Whites (victory!!!) play Bahrain for their World Cup soccer spot...there was nobody there. We watched it with our own beer in our little hotel room, with Patrick whooping it up as if he were in a sports bar!!

The origins of the mighty Whanganui River near Tongaririo National Park between Tamarunui and Wanganui. Its amazing how tiny it is here compared to the enormous river we see in Wanganui every day. We headed here on Sunday morning with hopes of hiking one of the many beautiful trails...but were defeated by cold and rainy weather. I've done a fair bit of cold/rainy hiking in NZ, but it's so close to home, it's like skiing when the weather stinks -- Why subject yourself when you can come back whenever you want?!!?

Here we are with Mount Damper Falls, one of the stops along the Forgotten Highway. This is what we call a High Yield Hike -- gorgeous views for minimal effort. Fifteen minute walk into native bush, and here you are...Whooooaaaa.