Whangamomona - The capital of the Forgotten World Traditional Geocache
Whangamomona - The capital of the Forgotten World
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(small)
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The town of Whangamomona lies in the centre of the Forgotten World, the self declared capital of the Republic of Whangamomona.
The journey you will take to find this cache will take you through some of the North Island's most remote areas that are accessible by vehicle. You can get here by car, motorbike or even golf cart on rails.
Whangamomona is also near mid-point of an historic railway line.
Construction of the Stratford-Okahukura railway line began in 1901 at Stratford and took nearly 32 years to complete, costing over 2 million pounds (which is equivalent to 9.4 billion today!).
By the end of the project railway workers had used pick axes and shovels to carve out 24 tunnels totalling 10.3 kilometres.
The line became an essential link to the outside world for the communities, businesses and farms that established in this remote country. Coal mines near Ohura and Tangarakau, and sawmills were made possible by the line.
Notorious for being a difficult and expensive line to maintain, the line's significance continued to decline as road transport became predominant. In 2009 a partial derailment damaged 16 kilometres of line. Although it was able to take light rail vehicles, KiwiRail chose to mothball the line rather than return it to a fully operational status.
The line is now leased by a tourist operator, allowing you to have a unique experience, caching by rail!
The hide was placed after a fantastic day cruising by rail.
You are looking for a 450m sistema, close to the railway, but there are no trains now the line is disused. The ride from Taumaranui ends at the Whangamomona station a few hundred metres to the east, but you may see some tourists cross the bridge occasionally, so be a little careful.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx haqre gur byq envyjnl oevqtr noohgzrag