Now this.... was something really different!
Within the central North Island is an extremely rugged, picturesque maze of steep hills, native bush, farmland, and winding streams. Runningt hrough this lost world that sits far off the tourist trail is the ‘Forgotten World Highway’ (State Highway 43), a road that runs for 148km from Taumaranui in the King Country to Stratford in Taranaki.
Forgotten World Adventures are a local tour company that explore this beautiful area by rail cart and jet boat - the experience takes passengers through back-country ghost towns and untouched landscapes steepened in Maori and early pioneer history.
We opted for their Rail and River Run trip, where we encountered over 40kms of disused railway track, 10 tunnels, and 20 bridges whilst driving our own modified ‘golf cart’ and then sat back and enjoyed a 23km jet boat ride along the Whanganui River. What an adrenaline rush! Great fun!
Lots of wildlife to be seen along the way including wild goats on the track whom we followed for quite a while!
Driving to Taranaki on the Forgotten World Highway the next day, we stopped in at Whangamomona, New Zealand’s only independent republic and another settlement lost in time.
CHECK OUT OUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ROAD TO THE FORGOTTEN WOLRD IN THE VIDEO BELOW!
