Forgotten World Highway

If it takes 4 hours for a road with a length of 155km. Then that says a lot about the road!

I drove the Forgotten World Highway today. You can guess why it's called that. The area there is so remote that hardly anyone takes this road. This street is only very popular with tourists 😀. But there weren't too many of them there either. If I had counted the number of vehicles coming towards me, it would have only been a 2-digit number...

What's on this street? It goes over 4 mountain saddles, through a narrow single-lane tunnel and of course there are many narrow, winding places. There is also a 12km long route made of gravel.

Relatively in the middle of the highway there is a place called Whangamomona. A revolution took place in this place in 1989. The government had decided to divide the district into two parts. Whereupon the district proclaimed independence and declared itself a republic. This spectacle is still celebrated regularly today and there is said to be a lot going on in the small town. There isn't that much going on today. There is a hotel where you can eat and a handful of other houses. The whole place seems somehow out of time, which is also very charming.

Shortly after Whangamomona there is a construction sign saying that the road is closed. That can't be right, at the very beginning of the highway there was a sign saying that the roads are open... I can't take any other way either, because there is only the way back. I'll just keep driving and see what happens. And actually shortly afterwards a friendly construction worker comes up to me and tells me that the road is closed but that it will be reopened in about 30 minutes. So I stand on the side of the road and have time. Conveniently, I have everything with me. First I free some of the ice from my fridge, then it's lunch (Stulle) and then I still have time... But this time will also pass and the street will be opened again. This was followed by the 12km, which consists of gravel. You can't drive fast here, especially since there are always construction machines and construction workers on the road.

The Forgotten World Highway feels like it never ends. Apart from green hills, there are only sheep, cows and a lot of nothing here. Every now and then there is a ruined building on the side of the path, and there are also a few isolated houses with buildings, but the number is very manageable.

My Nave told me in advance that it would take me just under 4 hours to travel from New Plymouth to Tongariro National Park. At the end of the day it took me over 5.5 hours (plus 30 minutes waiting time) to complete the route (230km) 😳.