Up about 8:15, showered, breakfast, checed out. Left Wanganui about 9:30, filled up with gas and drove up the Whanganui River Road, which follows the Whanganui River up to Pipiriki, where it turns east to Raetihi. It's a pretty hairy road, one lane most of the way, over half of it is gravel. Lots of boulders and rocks that had fallen from the cliffs, and some slips in the road. One big slip that I was scared to drive through. It had been built back up with soft mud and was rutted and muddy because of all the rain, and I was sure I'd get stuck if I went through it. But I had no choice, so just gunned it, and I heard the bottom of the car scrape the road as I drove through the ruts.
Quite a scenic drive. The whole trip from Wanganui to Raehiti is only about 100knm, but it took me more than 3 hours because of the slow pace. Got to Raetihi about 12:45 and turned north on SH4. Stopped at a picnic area just north of town and made jam and peanut butter sandwiches and ate them on the road. Stopped at The Last Spike, the spot where the last spike was hammered for the rail line between Wellington and Auckland.
Continued north to Raurimu, where the Raurima Spiral rail tunnel tunnels through a mountain in order to gain altitude to reach the plateau above. I stopped at the lookout in town, and couldn't see diddly squat of the dumb tunnel or rail line. All you could see in the distance was some power lines that presumable ran alongside the rail line.
Then north, finally getting Taumarunui. I called ahead and booked a room at a hostel in Stratford and got gas. From here, took SH43, the "Forgotten World Highway", another scenic route, east towards Stratford. WOW! I must say, this is the best, most scenic highway I've drive yet!
The highway cuts through/along the Tarangakau River gorge, with huge cliffs on either side. Tons of roadside waterfalls, boulders and rocks on the road from small rockslides, unbelievable vista's, thick forest, twists and turns.
After leaving the gorge, there's the Moki Tunnel, a one lane tunnel cut under the mountain, instead of going over the top. Then Joshua Morgan's grave, the surveyor who pioneered the road through the gorge and over the mountain ranges. Stopped at Raikohua Falls. At the turnoff to the falls, the farmer had a whole bunch (2 or 3 dozen) pigs skins stuck on the fence. I got out to take a picture, and the hides reeked!
Passed by a town, Whangamomona, which foro some reason, reminded me a lot of Chicken, Alaska. Then the highway topped over 4 mountain ranges along it's route.
I made a lot of stops and took a lot of pictures on the journey. It's only 150km, but took me over 4 hours! So twisty and turny and so much to stop and see, and I know I missed a lot of the sights.
Got to Stratford about 6:00, checked into the hostel, Taranaki Accomodation Lodge. I used to be a home for trainee nurses, and definately has a very institutional feel to it. Hardly anyone here, surprising because of the ski slope on Mount Taranaki/Egmont. I have a twin room all by myself.
Unfortunately, I can't see the volcano today, way to cloudy and rainy. Hopefully tomorrow. Apparently it looks quite a lot like Mount Fuji.
Went to Subway for supper, then to New World for groceries (less than a week left, have to be careful with my groceries), then back to the hostel, figured out a plan for tomorrow, wrote in journal, the read.
And I read, and I read, and I read. The book is amazing. Some of the things that happen in the plot blew my mind, and I had to finish reading it, I couldn't put it down, I had to finish it that night, just to see how it ended. Very cool ending!!!! I finally went to bed after midnight, and then laid awake thinking about the book for the next hour.
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