Mike and Lois Wellington NZ Mission: The Rimutaka's and Waiohene Gorge

Since the earthquake has kept us from our work, we have taken some time to see some of the areas around us. There are only 2 highways out of Wellington to the north. Of course they are Hwy 1 and Hwy 2. Remember that Wellington is at the south end of the island, and to travel south, you have 2 choices, fly or take the ferry to the south island.

Highway 2 runs up a river valley through 2 of the large suburbs, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt. (They are named after the Hutt River which runs through them. Sir William Hutt was the founder of the New Zealand Company, the first company that brought immigrants to settle New Zealand from Great Britain). From there, it goes over the Rimutaka's (a mountain range that separates Wellington basin from an interior plain that has great farming. The Rimutaka's caused a lot of trials for transporation over the years. This major highway threads its way up and over the pass, with many turns reduced to 50 kph (30 mph), yet is a major trucking route. The railroad follows a similar route, but a long tunnel was built to help get the train route completed.

We have to travel this route every 8 weeks, to visit the young missionaries that serve in Masterton. It was quite the challenge, when we first arrived, to drive this road--on the wrong side, on a narrow road with hairpin turns, with local driver's who love to take the turns a racing speed so they tailgate, with logging trucks that need more than their lane to negotiate the road, with rain or snow in the winter. But now, with warm weather and several trips completed it is pretty fun.

The view looking south toward Wellington.

The summit, with a commemoration plaque for the soldiers who had to travel the pass in WW1 to their training camps, and some tourists who got in the picture.

Imagine having this chase you up or down a narrow road. Most New Zealand roads have no shoulders either.

Lois' normal view from the passenger seat. I admire her calm demeanor while I have learned to drive on the wrong side of the road. It's taken a while to feel comfortable driving this way.

The saga of the railroad using this pass is a story in itself. Part of the route had to be built on a 1:15 grade, which is really steep for a train. They used special engines for one 3 mile stretch to take the train cars to the summit. They had an engine for every 6 cars, they had to install a 3rd rail for braking when coming down. They uncoupled the regular steam engines, and hooked up these. It took 45 minutes to steam up the 3 miles. Here is a link for those who are interested in a more complete version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimutaka_Incline

A few kilometers north, we had heard about a gorge worth looking at. But we didn't know what to expect. So we headed north from the museum in Featherston, to Carterton, and turned off the highway at the sign. The road went from a paved road passing next to pastures and fields, to a gravel road at the edge of the valley. When we got to this sign, we thought we were at the end of the road, so we walked (climbed) down to the river.