The Forgotten World Highway (also known as State Highway 43) is a 150km road from Stratford to Taumarunui which was opened in 1945 after 50 years in the making. It is remote, mysterious, windy, breath taking and full of heritage. Currently, there is 12 kilometres of unsealed road through the Tangarakau Gorge making it the only State Highway with an unsealed section (although work is currently in progress to seal the first two km). Alongside many pretty places to stop for pictures, the Forgotten World Highway is also home to the Moki Tunnel (180m long single lane tunnel also known as Hobbits Hole), a short detour to the Mt Damper falls (at 74m it is the North Islands second hightest waterfalls) and of course, the Republic of Whangamomona (who declared itself a republic in the late 1980's when local district boundaries were changed and half of Whangamomona remained under Taranaki and the other half under Manawatu-Whanganui.The locals were not impressed and responded by declaring their independence).
Prior to late January 2022 and despite the fact that I had lived in Stratford for 10 years, I had never been to Whangamomona as I was under the impression the roads were terrible and it took a very long time to get out there (neither of which is true!). I was keen to attend the Whangamomona Republic day but never got around to it. That was until a crazy period of 4 days happened when I interviewed for a teaching position out here and had to pack up my whole life, move out here and start at school 2 days later! So, I know how pretty yet tedious the journey can be so have decided to place some caches to break up the journey. While cellphone reception is getting better out here and you can mostly get cellphone coverage up to Whangamomona (if coming from Stratford), for the rest of the trip, it is very patchy. There are no service stations between Stratford and Taumaranui so make sure you are prepared! I have made this series of caches fairly obvious where the hiding place is as most of them are at heritage signs or very closeby.
Strathmore Saddle - this is my second attempt at a cache here! I love the views from here, on a clear day you can see Taranaki Maunga and Ruapehu.This is considered the start of the "back country" with dairy farming giving way to sheep and beef farms.There was plans to put a tunnel through here, but they never eventuated. As with any of these caches, please be wary of where you place your hands/feet as many travellers along this road will find any suitable spot to relieve themselves, even at rest areas which are quite busy and as I found out the day I placed this cache!
Please let me know if there is any maintenance required, while I live just outside Whangamomona - I will travel this road at least once a fortnight to avail myself to town life - aka good coffee:)