The Forgotten World Highway

New Zealand’s marketing department is pretty good with naming. In another journal entry I mentioned how they’ve labeled ten hikes throughout the country as “Great Walks”, which of course makes you want to give them a try. Similarly, while leaving Auckland, I was greeted with highway signs for the “Thermal Explorer Highway”, which traverses several geothermal areas, and who doesn’t want to be a thermal explorer? Today I had several options to get from Egmont National Park to Tongariro National Park, but with one of those routes labeled as the “Forgotten World Highway” the choice was clear. Unfortunately the rain continued all day, so views were limited and I didn’t get out of the car much, but it was a neat route through an area of New Zealand that didn’t really get a functional road until the 1960s and doesn’t seem to see many visitors.

Of particular note along the way was the town of Whangamōmona, which is most famous for having declared itself the Republic of Whangamōmona during a dispute over regional boundaries in 1989. While this was more of a protest than an actual rebellion, they nevertheless immediately elected as President a resident who had been put on the ballot without his knowledge, and who served from 1989 until 1999. In 1999 he retired, and President Billy Gumboots, a goat, was elected and served for 18 months until he died in office. The next election resulted in President Tai the Poodle, who held office for a year. Elections continue to be held every two years, and recent votes have resulted in human Presidents, although a mannequin won a close second place in 2023 and was installed as VP.

There are hushed whispers that the sun hasn’t actually burned out and will reappear at some point tomorrow, so I’ve booked a permit and shuttle for the Tongariro Crossing for Monday morning (two days from now), and will hopefully be able to do the hike in reasonably dry weather with at least some views of the scenery. In the mean time I think the plan for tomorrow will be to try a shorter hike in the park, assuming our nearest star actually chooses to once again break through the rain clouds that have been here for several days now.