Ohakune Old Coach Road

Leaving the campsite at Ohakune, the next section of our route followed the Old Coach Road - a former all weather coach link route between now disused rail lines. We rode the trail for about 15km, ascending to Horopito, 170m higher than Ohakune, where we visited an auto wreckers. The Old Coach Road is one part of the longer Mountains To Sea Great Ride. This would take us some of the way to Waimarino on unsealed tracks, with the last bit along highway 4.

Located in Tongariro National Park, the trail winds through a volcanic landscape of sub alpine flora, peppered with old viaducts rising over the native forest of rimu, rātā and tawa trees.

Starting off on a gravel road through farmland down in the basin, the track climbed quickly giving us a clear view of Mt. Taranaki on the far west coast of North Island. Lush forest quickly surrounded us and giant Dicksonia ferns, stood high, often in groups, wearing their ‘skirts’, We followed the old dray road, cobbled in sections with set stones and laid in the 1880’s to provide a surface for horses and coach. A massive endeavour to create through this terrain.

The trail is dotted with remnants of the railway infrastructure - an old tunnel (impassible), bridges (old and new) and bush workers camps - where workers and their families lived in canvas covered houses in the middle of the rainforest. The trail has many information boards, describing the history and heritage of the route - connecting past to present.

Winding our way up on the single track we arrived at a marvellous viewpoint taking in both old historic Hapuawhenua Viaduct and new viaduct for the modern rail line. We paused under the new viaduct at the same time a freight train was passing over. Feeling the rumble and vibration, we wondered how much weight was overhead. A short detour at a T-Junction allowed us to get up close to the old viaduct and actually ride across it, which was terrifying and wonderful in equal amounts. The old Hāpuawhenua viaduct, is one of New Zealand’s oldest and tallest curved viaducts at 45m high and 245m long. In the early 1900’s it was the largest wooden curved railway bridge in the world.

Climbing to the highest point of the trail we passed the old quarry which supplied much of the rock for the coach road, saw a few more grand but derelict viaducts - rusting hulks of vintage meccano, striding high above valleys - and also had the new railway for company much of the time. We pedalled through swathes of mountain cabbage trees and then popped out into farmland. A clear afternoon and cloudless sky made Mt. Ruapehu’s white upper slopes and summit pop against the blue. The final section of trail took us along gravel road to the junction at Horopito.

Here we visited ‘Smash Palace’ Motor Wreckers - a large auto wreckers yard, part museum and homage to the motor vehicle, part salvage and vintage parts supplier. It was amazing! The wreckers was the location for the film ‘Smash Palace’, released in 1982 and directed by Roger Donaldson. The story involves an ex-race car driver, and the break-up of his marriage. He sets out to get back his daughter at any cost, and this results in him becoming a fugitive whilst trying to establish their relationship. The finale takes part in the wreckers yard. We have never see the film but are now curious to do so! What a fantastic location.

The real Smash Palace, or Horopito Motor Wreckers is a family business, started by Bill Cole and taken over by his daughter Barbara and family. Spread over about 12 acres, the outdoor lots and indoor warehouses contain stripped parts from and carcasses of, vehicles decades old - some pre-WWI. Part mausoleum and part homage to the motor car, we read that Bill’s philosophy was that any car entering the yard would remain and be kept in case of need of parts and never disposed of. As such the cars remain, slowly decaying and being reclaimed by the vegetation and foliage. A tree springs out of a bonnet. A bramble strangles an engine block and shrubs creep through many cars interior. It is a photographer’s dream as well as a ‘pistonheads’ paradise.

As the sun lowered and mountain tops turned pink in the failing light, we pressed on by joining Highway 4 for the last 20km to Waimarino, where we were spending the night. Our minds were now firmly set on getting to our hostel and resulted in a mundane part of the ride, due to weariness, a highway busy with traffic ‘going home’ for the day, and temperatures dropping. We rode up hill to the plateau upon which Waimarino sits and cycled the last few miles in the dark, stopping briefly to pick up some food from the store for the nights dinner, before arriving at the lodge.Leggi altro