Rosie and The Operator forged on into uncharted territory. Neither of us have taken this urban myth steeped route before. The legendary hills climb over the winding saddles and the much talked about gravel road portion is what has put us off this drive before. Rosie and the Operator well and truly busted the myth…the road was excellent and the trip memorable.
Leaving Whangamomona you felt in the middle of nowhere, you could actually hear the wind in the grass and trees and the landscape was alive with birdsong…and that was all….the silence was deep and pure and the air was fresh in the summer warmth. It is 155km from Stratford to Taumarunui, there are no petrol stations along this stretch, if the owners of this house ran out of milk it was 70kms to the nearest dairy….man you would have to be organised to live here, this area is truly remote.
Long summer grasses line the roadside, yellow dandelions and white daisies are everywhere, their little bobbing faces moving on the wind. Tangled amongst them are wild sweet peas and old pink heritage roses ramble in the box thorn hedgerows. The trees are fully clad in the new early summer light green leaves, it is a beautiful time of the year to travel this road. Our first stop was The Moki Tunnel built in 1936, known locally as The Hobbits Hole, this
tunnel was cut directly into fossilised rock, it is single laned and 180 metres long. In 1986 the floor of the tunnel was lowered so that the triple decked stock trucks could get through. Just past the Moki Tunnel the 12 km stretch of unsealed road begins. It is hard packed papa stone with a solid base and not too much loose chip, I certainly wouldn’t take the road at pace if I was on a motorbike but it was quite good in the camper even considering all the rain we had had over the last 4 days, the road drained well and wasn’t soft in the least.
The Tangarakau Gorge marks the boundary between Stratford and Ruapehu districts and is breathtakingly beautiful, lush dense bush lines either side of the road. The Tangarakau river bridge comes around the corner, this is the final resting place of early settler Joshua Morgan who died in 1893 at the age of 35. Joshua was surveying the local area and got sick from peritonitis, after a couple of days of terrible fever he passed away and was buried where he died, a memorial 50 metres from the road marks the spot of his final resting place.
This road is magic, you can explore it as much or as little as you like. Being a Heritage Trail you can get information on the road from you local information centre or i.site before you start the journey. Markers on the map coincide with the road and outlines stops with panoramic views and points of interest. Take detours if you have the time and inclination, stop at what interests you or just cruise the road.
All too soon we drove into Taumarunui, the junction of the Wanganui and Ongarue Rivers, during the pioneer era this was a strategic railway town and it is still an easy place to access all parts of the Central North island from. We thought we would spend the night at the Tauramunui Holiday Park.
Rosie and the Operator rolled into the camp ground at about 2.30 and asked for a powered site. The easy going camp Manager was an affable friendly guy who said we could park anywhere we liked….this easy going, free spirited way kind of ruffled Rosie a little….she is a fan of allocation…..what if we picked a prime spot and went out for a drive and come back and, God forbid some else had pinched our site!
We parked on the flat land in the middle of the park next to a coned off area, the sites next to the river we were warned sloped, but there were wedges provided for levelling vans and campers. Parking the camper Rosie felt a little more uneasy…there are no site demarcation lines…..without them anarchy and disorder reigns. Campers and tents park at weird angles making strange formations….allotted gridded space equals camp democracy and allows you comforting personal space, bah, humbug!
A camper pulls up next to us behind the cones…Rosie is nosing out the window and quips to the Operator how cheeky those people were wanting to park in a coned off area….the driver gets out of the camper and scoops up the cones and re parks their camper! Excellent idea! Rosie is getting some cones for the next free spirited campsite we attend, a pure genius way of ‘bagging’ and keeping your campsite!
The park was well tended and borders a forest domain and the Wanganui River, it is a pet friendly park…yes, Nazi Rosie isn’t a fan of dogs either, but, the unleashed mutts wandering around were under the watchful eyes of their owners and really well behaved. Their are cabins to rent and an excellent adventure playground for the kids. Check out the website, it is one of the few really excellent campground websites around, a real credit to the owners! http://www.taumarunuiholidaypark.co.nz/
The outdoor social areas in front of the cookhouse are funky and have a nice vibe, with an atmospheric outdoor wood burner and free BBQ. Plus, there is a neat well tended herb and berry garden available for campers to help themselves from…the toilets and showers though needed a little attention cleanliness wise and busted locks really do need replacing, but, there is no metered showers, they are hot, high pressured and no need to hurry!
With his trout license in his pocket, the Operator went and cast a line into the Wanganui River. After the big rains we have had over the last few days the murky brown river wasn’t giving anything up, but the beautiful still evening sitting on the river bank, watching tui’s drink nectar from the flax flowers was a nice way to spend the evening!
