New Zealand
Forgotten World Highway
A road through ghost towns and collapsed tunnels where the bush has swallowed entire settlements.
The Republic of Whangamōmona declared independence in 1989. The pub issues its own passports. Forgotten World Highway in New Zealand's Taranaki region is 150 kilometres of gravel road, hand-dug tunnels, and ghost towns swallowed by bush — a road that exists because nobody bothered to close it.
State Highway 43 connects Stratford to Taumarunui through four hand-dug tunnels, across saddles with no mobile reception, and past settlements that lost their last residents decades ago. The Republic of Whangamōmona broke from both Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui regional councils after boundary disputes, and its biennial Republic Day draws thousands. There are no fuel stations on the entire route. The Forgotten World Adventures rail cart experience follows the abandoned railway through tunnels that were carved by hand in the early 20th century.
Solo
Driving the highway alone, with no mobile signal and no other traffic, creates a solitude that most developed countries can no longer offer.
Couple
The rail cart experience — pedalling through abandoned tunnels on a converted railway — is unusual enough to become a shared reference for years.
- The Republic of Whangamōmona declared independence in 1989 — the pub issues its own passports and stamps.
- The road passes through four hand-dug tunnels, ghost towns swallowed by bush, and valleys with no mobile signal.
- A railway that once served the valley now runs railcarts for visitors through tunnels carved by hand a century ago.
- The entire 150-kilometre route has no fuel stations — the isolation is engineered by geography and neglect.
The Whangamomona Hotel — a pub in a self-declared republic — pours beer for passing travellers.
Stratford's bakeries make old-school meat pies with proper flaky pastry and peppery gravy.
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