24.12.19 Christmas in the Republic of Whangamomona

I'm excited... The alternator was behind the workshop this morning and it seems to fit. Colin told me to go have breakfast so he can swear in peace 😉, because he needs about 3 hands to install it.

A café was open and I treated myself to a big croissant and a flat white. Since this is a winter sports resort, almost everything is closed in the middle of summer.

This will be the first and last time on the trip that I won't eat in the camper.

At 10:30 I can leave with a repaired camper in Ohakune after I bought a huge pack of German gingerbread and a bottle of wine for Colin and thanked him with it.

He was visibly happy 😊. I'm not completely relaxed about the condition of the camper, but it purrs through all the curves and hills without a care.

So off to Whangamomona, a place with 12 inhabitants, located about two-thirds of the way along Highway 43. In Taumarunui, about 1 hour behind Ohakune, I quickly buy the last things, fill up with petrol, and drive onto the Forgotten World Highway, a 150km long route through the most beautiful New Zealand.

This is the second point of this trip that I wanted to drive again, everything else should be something new. This 'highway', a winding country road through the King Country, has no real towns, at best 2 or 3 farms, and then kilometer-long curves.

The route has several places where rocks have fallen onto the road, and there are about 14km of gravel road with lots of potholes. On the nearly 2 hours that I'm bumping along here, there are about 10-20 cars around me. The Moki Tunnel is an unlit, single-lane narrow tunnel with a sandy floor.

The one who enters first has the right of way. Nothing else is regulated here. It's almost deserted. Christmas Eve in a different way. At 3:30pm I reach Whangamomona.

Here I get a 2$ entry stamp placed in my passport. Because Whangamomona is a free republic with about 12 inhabitants. Because of the general dissatisfaction with a territorial reform, the residents declared their own republic here in 1989. It reminds me of Užupis in Vilnius. Only there was more going on. However, almost 20 years ago a goat was once elected as president here. 😂

The central point is the Whangamomona Hotel, run by a couple who already, when I came through here 5 years ago, were sitting in front of their pub, which is part of the hotel, with beer and a cigarette.

Just 400m further on is the very basic campground where I'll be on Christmas Eve. There's only a three-person family besides me. There are chickens and ponies running around the site. The facilities are really basic. But it only costs 15 dollars and I'll practice digital detox here, because there's not even a phone network here. I'm driving 6km to the Whangamomona Saddle to write this, where you have reception at the top at an altitude of 270m. I'm heading off to my little farm in Whangamomona now, wishing everyone a fantastic Christmas and I'll get in touch again when I'm back in civilization!