The Forgotten World Highway

The "Forgotten World Highway" is the remote route from Stratford to Taumaranui, State Highway 43.  It spans 150km, about 12km of which is a fairly rough unsealed section through the steep Tarangakau Gorge.  Somewhere near the middle is the village of Whangamomona, which declared itself a republic in 1989 when it was suddenly deemed no longer part of Taranaki province.

We decided to tick this one off our bucket list, as the "main" route from New Plymouth to Taupo is fairly long and indirect anyway.

Coffee at the Whangamomona Hotel.

A few horses went past, following their leader.

The "Hobbit's Hole" one-way, unlined and unlit tunnel.

SH 43 is apparently the only State Highway left in New Zealand with an un-sealed section.  However I read that it is scheduled to be sealed in the near future.

We took the 15 km side-trip of the highway to visit Mount Damper Falls, one of the highest in the country at 74 metres.  The road was probably easier than the main SH 43, and there was a 20 minute walk through farmland and then bush to reach the lookout for the falls.

Quite pretty, but a modest flow compared to Sutherland Falls.

The information panel at the start of the track.

The track to the falls.

A selfie!

Toward the end of our drive we found the Lavendar Farm which is reputed to be a nice afternoon tea stop.

An excellent place to sip coffee, overlooking the lavendar.

The air was filled with the buzzing of the bees, making lavendar honey I suppose...