Forgotton World Highway Rail Trail

Recently we went for our combined Christmas and Birthday treats.  We had a weekend around Taumaranui.  Some of you might wonder why - in fact if we were in the UK there would be facial expressions a bit like when we said we were going to Stevenage or Hull.  Certainly the town itself didn't offer much on Saturday night, two restaurants were open - and there is no pub.  Not that we would have gone if there had been, we just noticed that remarkable absence (the motel owner said there is a RSA and Cossie club, and the pub closed down after a few exciting events!!).  The main street is alcohol free at night, so I guess that doesn't encourage a pub to be open.

Anyway, we drove up late Friday afternoon to Wanganui and stayed at the Kingsgate.  We had been given a wonderful wedding present of bed and breakfast in the hotel.  Far from romantic I was curled up in one of the double beds by 9.00 and slept without waking until 7.30 the next morning.  Harry watched the rugby and fell asleep in the other bed!!

We drove up through Stratford after a very healthy and big (!!) breakfast and began our drive through the forgotten highway.  The road was wider than expected and we drove along stopping at lots of the sights - the old brick kiln, the school in the once flourishing town, the Bridge to Somewhere (long way on unsealed road where we met cyclists one of which knew Harry), had a walk through farm land to the Damper Falls and then stopped at the Whongomomana Hotel - chips and coffee were a must I had said a few days ago.  We stopped to see some views (Mt Taranaki to the west and Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro and Nguarahoe to the east), saw our little golf carts riding along their tracks and then drove on to Taumaranui.  

One of the things that surprised us was the amount of land that had been cleared for farmland.  We had assumed that we would be driving through fairly thick bush, but in most cases that wasn't the case.

  

The next day we took our little golf cart on rail tracks trip (petrol powered golf carts adapted for railway line use, with steering immobilised and maximum speed 10 km an hour).  It was a lot of fun, and those organising the soft adventure that had only been established in October 2012 had thought it all out.  Loos had been built along the way, morning and afternoon teas as well as lunch were provided at old stations under tarpaulins.  We drove along looking forward to each stop, waving to cows and sheep, and occasionally slowing down to let an animal off the track.  We were told that on average those doing this trip was around 70 ish!!