Whangamomona Republic Day.

Whangamomona Republic Day. Different from yesterday.

Day 6, Today was Republic Day here in Whangamomona which is now celebrated Bi-annually. It’s now run as a fund raiser for the local community board and the school.

Whangamomona Republic Day. Sheep dog trials.

It all came about years ago when the locals were not happy with the way New Zealand was heading and decided to break away and become a republic. What started out as a serious gesture has now become a fun day out with many thousands of visitors flocking to the event. You have to purchase a passport to enter the town and have it stamped when ever you cross a border crossing.

Whangamomona Republic Day. The Gut Buster marathon open to all ages.Gut Buster marathon. Up the fence line to the top.

Basically it’s a look at life in a rural town. Activities like sheep dog trialling, sheep races, whip cracking, wood carving by chainsaw, possum skinning, wood chopping competition, metal work at the Blacksmith forge and the Gut Buster marathon were just part of the days entertainment. The Gut Buster was about 2-3km run from the pub to the top of the hill and back. It was more like an Iron Man run than a marathon but about 40 contestants of all ages and sex took part. Bare feet or gum boots, it didn’t matter, the steep climb up the hill had them all scrambling on their hands and feet to reach the top before the hair raising run down the other side with a few tumbles.

Whangamomona Republic Day. You even needed a passport!

There were many food stalls and hand made articles for sale from leather to wood or metal, even puppies or kid goats. Competitions like counting Eels in a tank or guess the weight of a newly shorn fleece. If all this was too much there was always the pub to retreat into.

Vintage machinery display.

We retreated back to camp at lunchtime as the temperature was rising and hit about 31⁰C . Reports of the tar on the road melting which would have made it quite uncomfortable walking around town.

Republic Day wood sawing and chopping competition.

Tomorrow its on to Taumarunui.

Riding the rails.

Our mode of transport for the rail adventure.

Day 5. Along with Peter, Geoff, Robin and Jenny we were booked to take the Forgotten World Adventures “Ride The Rails” adventure. We met our guide,Ian,at the Whangamomona railway station where 4 converted Golf carts awaited us. These carts had been purchased in Canada and cleverly converted the same way as modern railway maintenance vehicles are to run on road or rail. After the precautionary prep talk and filling out some documents we were off at the giddy speed of 20KPH (Max).

Yours truly @ ************Happy wanderers with Ian our guide making final adjustments.

We were taking the moth balled line towards Taumarunui. Kiwirail have not used the line  for about 10 years and Forgotten World Adventures have a 30 year lease on the line unless the line reopens. This all came about when a goods train derailed damaged over 7000 sleepers and they are in no hurry to repair it. The damaged track is visible but with the carts only weighing in at around 500kgs it’s not a problem.

We're off to Taumarunui.

It was great to see countryside that would normally only be visible by rail travel. Hill country farms to native bush, we passed through it all. As well as sheep and cattle there was an Alpaca farm and even wild life such as Pheasant, Turkeys, Lapwings which we suspected were nesting on the track bed and Feral goats. Ian, our guide told us that the odd deer and pig have also been seen.

Rivers and gully crossings, we got them all.

Over bridge’s and farm access tracks we only had to endure one road crossing where technically we had right of way with a Stop sign controlling road traffic. However as most people using this road know there are no trains operating they don’t bother to stop so we had to take extra precautions. As the tour name suggests there are 20 tunnels ranging from 80m in length to1525m which do tend to be on the cool side but are generally dry.

Deep ravines.

Ian stopped at points of interest to tell us what had taken place or been at any given spot. Towns and villages with populations up to 1200 that had sprung up with the advent of the railway, coal mining, brick works and farming and had all but disappeared leaving just the odd house or building to mark their passing. The land now reverting back to pasture.

There once was a station. The cattle were held at bay by an electric fence.

Part of the tour was a supplied morning tea and lunch where Ian was able to pass on more information about the railway and it’s impact on the district. Apparently since the road between Stratford and Taumarunui has been named the Forgotten Highway more people are now using it and tourism is slowly making an impact on the area.

Relics of a bygone age.

Our final stopping point was at Ohura which was a saw milling and mining town with a population of 650 in it’s hey day. More recently the Ohura prison which was formerly a miners hostel has now been closed and converted to a back packers accommodation and camping ground. There is an on site cafe for the weary traveller. We wanted to check this out as a possibility for our next venue but it was well and truly booked out.

The railways must have been planning on track renewal prior to mothballing the line.

Our journey's end came just 2 km’s and 2 bridges short of the junction with the North Island Main Trunk line. Interestingly one bridge was a road/rail bridge where the road was under the railway. Ian quickly switched the carts from rail to road wheels and drove them into the garage to await the next booking.

Wagon 14668 left to the elements. Deliberate placement or derailed dumping?

We were then transported back to Whangamomona via Taumarunui via mini bus where dinner at the Whangamomona awaited us. The latter was our own arrangement and not part of the tour.

Back into rugged back country station farmland.

The tour is called the 20 tunnel tour and is one of 4 options that Forgotten World Adventures offer. They operate from October to May so if this sort of adventures interest’s you log on to their website (as above) and see what they have to offer. You won’t be dis-appointed. Two seater and four seater carts are available which can be fully enclosed if required.  One thing the brochure doesn’t tell you is that there are toilets along the way so those with a weak constitution should not fear.

Lunch break.Lost count of the bridges.Bit of a climb here but nothing greater than 1 / 40.Tunnels at this end of the line were lined in brick from the nearby brickworks.Journeys end just 2km from the junction with the North Island main trunk line.

All in all a thoroughly wonderful day, we couldn’t have had better weather, although we had to watch the suntan.

The Forgotten World Highway.

Views from the Forgotten Highway.

Day 4. Having found out that this coming week-end is Republic Day in Whangamomona, our next destination, we decided that we had better make an early start so that if we found the Whangamomona camp site full we would have time to find an alternate camp site.

We all headed off to refuel, fill the water tanks and empty the waste tanks as there is nothing on the Forgotten Highway between Stratford and Taumarunui. So you have to be well provisioned before you hit the highway. The road between Stratford and Whangamomona is a slow hilly road with plenty of hairpin bends to catch out the unwary. We had to move over to let one truck and trailer pass and did meet another in the opposite direction. Luckily this was on a wide bend where we could pull over to give the truckie plenty of room to squeeze past.

Views around the Whangamomona camp site.

Arriving at the Whangamomona camp site we were pleasantly surprised to find it empty. The manager has given us all power sites for now but this situation may change as more campers arrive over the next day or so. After setting up camp we walked into the village to time ourselves in readiness for our trip tomorrow.

Whangamomona pub and post office building.This is only a dummy frontage as the original building has now gone.Whangamomona's old butcher shop.Didn't know Wellington buses ran this far north.

We called into the pub which is basically the only business in the village for coffee’s and ice creams. We have also booked in for dinner tomorrow night. Four of our group also had dinner there tonight.

Whangamomona main street.Whangamomona bus shelter?This is our meeting point at 9.30am tomorrow.  An interesting day awaits us!

New bread and old tractors.

Says it all!

Day 3 and we were off to Manaia the home of Yarrows Bakery. This family owned business is now run by the third generation. The shop was certainly popular as we joined the queue for some very cheap bread, savouries, pasties and lots of other lovely baking.

Yarrows family bakery, Manaia. The old BNZ bank building to the right.

The prices were amazing with Xmas mince pies $2.50 for a dozen, exotic bread for $2 a loaf and very cheap mix and match biscuits and pasties.

Waiting for a sticky bun.

This area of Taranaki used to be considered the granary of the South Pacific but improvement in growing and harvesting saw this all change just before WW I and dairy farming took over.

Mt Egmont (or as it is now known as Mt Taranaki).

After lunch we headed out to the Tawhiti Museum and the Traders and Whalers display.The latter has been 5 years in the planning and production and is a credit to the designers and builders. Covering the history of the Taranaki coast between 1820 and 1840. Using very realistic life size diorama’s it covers the interaction between the local Maori tribes and early seafarers and whalers.

Tawhiti Museum. Blacksmiths corner.

This trading caused quite a lot of problems among Maori tribes when some tribes obtained guns and started to attack tribes who were unable to protect themselves. Eventually this imbalance was corrected with traders supplying all the tribes and European soldiers being bought in as peace keepers and rounding up the trouble makers and shipping them out of the area.

Tawhiti Museum. The mining collection.

We last visited the Tawhiti Museum about 15 years ago so it was interesting to see what changes had taken place. Basically being a museum of agriculture it was interesting to see the improvement in tractors and machinery over the years.

Tawhiti museum military vehicle collection. Two Chevrolet puddle jumpers.Dairy farmers British Bedford circa 1935.1908 Burrell 8HP traction engine. Tractors and chain saws.Farming history.

It was amazing to see what devices had been developed by the farmers to improve their lot. One such machine was a milking machine which was patented and sold world wide.

We’re on safari.

With Xmas and the New year celebrations done and dusted it was time to head home. However our stay at home was to be short lived as we were back on the road by the 11th January. We were heading North to help friend’s at the Tongariro Holiday Park. This was for just a week, after which we were off to the Heretaunga Caravan club’s Wellington Anniversary weekend’s rally. So from Tongariro it was off to Himatangi Beach. During our stay at Tongariro the weather was wet and miserable with more snow being dumped on the mountains.

This is supposed to be summer, yer right! However the sun did appear for the club rally making it a good week-end.

Monday morning rolled around all too soon and 5 of us from the club were heading North West to Taranaki on a safari. Our first stop was Waiinu Beach just North of Wanganui. The South Taranaki District council have made improvements to the camp site with a new toilet block and it’s a very popular place.

Waiinu Beach camping ground.Ground a little uneven but we were level.Waiinu beach with black sand.

Day 2 and we left Waiinu beach for Hawera. Instead of just passing through Patea we decided to stop and have a look around. Since the closure of the local freezing works in 1982 the town has declined with little or no work in the district. At it’s peak the works employed 800 people. Empty buildings lined the main street but one we found of interest was the Star Garage.

Star Garage (museum) Patea.

This is like a working museum with a collection of cars included very old Buick’s (parts required please), Austin and Morris’s. The proprietor was a real character and had been involved in the NZ racing scene. Well worth a visit if you are passing this way.

Promotional vehicle that once graced the street's of Lower Hutt.1937 Austin covered in 27000 shells.

Happy New Year 2013

To all our friends and family and readers we wish you all a wonderful year.