Forgotten World Highway - Welcome to the Republic of Whangamomona!

It was time for another motorcycle ride and a change of scenery. We continued on the north and west sides above Lake Taupo through a beautiful green volcanic landscape dotted with some spectacular views of the lake towards the west. At Taumarunui, we took SH 43, which ends in Stratford after about 150 km. This road is also called the "Forgotten World Highway," and that's a fairly accurate description. Apart from the occasional farm in the distance and the town of Whangamomona with its namesake hotel and a campground roughly in the middle, there is nothing on this route! Just beautiful green hills, a fairly bumpy and partially gravel road, and an adventurous unlit one-way tunnel.

The Whangamomona Hotel came highly recommended as a place to stop, and since we had plenty of time, we decided to stay overnight at the campground around the corner. And it was absolutely worth it, as it turned out to be one of the most curious places we stayed at towards the end of our trip.

In Whangamomona, it felt like time had stood still for 50 years. Everything was simple and old, almost poor, and the residents used discarded items in a rather bizarre way. Whether it was the toilet bowl used as a flower pot in front of the campground reception, or the ancient exercise equipment on the lawn, which we still don't know if we should have actually used or if they were just there as toys for the various animals running around. But it wasn't just the campground that was so surreal, the whole town was. On another property, we saw rows of washbasins and toilet cisterns being used as flower pots, and in the hotel pub, an old toilet seat held up by a sawn-off billiard cue was nailed to the wall as a TV shelf. Absolutely crazy!

At the campground, we met two enduro riders who were traveling with a camper van and a trailer. Despite being around 60 years old, these two must have been riding through the mud vigorously, judging by the appearance of their bikes. We had a great conversation with the two of them, and funny enough, we ran into them twice at the next campgrounds, even though we hadn't made any plans. And as for the enduro outfit: totally overrated, the two of them were wearing overalls and rubber boots!

But the pinnacle of the surrealism in Whangamomona is that this village declared itself an independent republic in 1989. The reason was that due to a territorial reform, the town was no longer supposed to belong to Taranaki. In the hotel, you can get a stamp of the Republic in your passport for $2, which of course I did, and every year on October 28th, the Independence Day celebration takes place, attracting visitors from near and far. Kiwis always find reasons to celebrate!