The Forgotten Highway is a 150km road linking the two volcanic regions of Ruapehu and Taranaki. It’s a bit of an adventure because it traverses thick rainforest, a few mountain passes, and a one-way tunnel. To top it off the middle 30km or so is unsealed.

I must say that I couldn’t really enjoy the drive that day because I was coming down with the flu. It made the trip even more interesting as I was trying to get to New Plymouth as quickly as I could without driving myself off the road. But I did take quite a few rest stops.

The first was at the top of Strathmore Saddle, which gave me a great view of the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park (namely Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro, and the cone-shaped Mt Ngauruhoe. Being early August, the peaks had a good covering of snow on them.