Ohinepane to Whangamomona

Today was a day of hills, views and beautiful scenery. From Ohinepane it’s not long until the first hill and as always it was steep. The only saving grace was the downhill on the other side. Not long afterwards the second big hill started so in bottom gear I ground my way up to just before Nevin’s Lookout. I stopped right at the top to cool down and the view from here was fine – maybe Nevin had a bit more energy and got a bit further! With cloud all around the promised views of Mt Ruapehu and Mt Tongariro didn’t materialise.

From Nevin’s Lookout it was generally downhill to the Tangarakau Scenic Reserve where the road turns to gravel for 12km. It’s a lovely stretch (if not for the corrugations in places) with stunning bush all around. I stopped at one point to fill my drink bottle under a waterfall and then again to lunch near Joshua Morgan’s grave. Morgan was one of the early surveyors of the area and died here in 1892.

Not long after the seal started again the road climbs to the Moki Tunnel (known locally as Hobbit’s Hole). It’s straight but without lights it gets a bit unnerving in the middle of its 180m length; I couldn’t make out where the sides were and felt like I was starting to head downhill. From there it’s a long wind up and over Tahora saddle, which was by far the easiest of today’s three climbs, and then downhill into the Republic of Whangamomona.

The locals (current pop. about 40!) declared a republic here in 1988 after their area was split between two newly formed district councils. They issue their own passports and elect their own president; they’ve had a poodle and a goat running the place. Despite their independence when I turned up at the pub at 3:45 to get a bowl of fries and a cold beer there was sign outside saying that ‘Due to the Sale of Liquor Act we aren’t serving any alcohol today” (it was Easter Sunday) - some republic! Inside I was told that they were closing at 4 and I could have a bag of chips (crisps) and a drink, so I opted for some salt and vinegar Eta Ripples and a can of L&P - world famous in New Zealand.



The campsite here's the old school and is petty basic but nice. There're a few campervans here tonight including one family who stopped to ask me at lunch if they'd missed the Moki tunnel.

And today's myPod classic: 'Matthew and Son" by Cat Stevens, nearly all morning!