A journey along the Forgotten World Highway

FIELD OF PURPLE : Lauren's Lavender Farm is a sight for sore eyes after a long day travelling.

Taumarunui, population just under 5000, may be small but what it lacks in size it makes up for with holiday adventures. It's the junction of multiple highways, SH4, SH43, SH41 and the Whanganui River (if you count that as a highway). You can embark on a multi-day canoe trip, traverse some of New Zealand's best mountain biking tracks, or spend a day riding the historic Forgotten World train track in a rail cart.

And as my daughter and I drove 15km from the township and cast our eyes across a field carpeted in purple at Lauren's Lavender Farm, we realised Taumarunui is also an ideal place to sit back and chill with nature.

We pulled off the Forgotten World Highway and looked in awe at the 8,000 lavender plants that bloom through summer. Happily, the farm has a café, with tables scattered across the deck and garden, each offering great vantage points over the flowers. There's also a shop selling delicious-smelling lavender body-care products, candles and soap. I stretched my legs out after the long drive and got stuck into a muffin while inhaling the scent of lavender.

Ears flapping, I eavesdropped into a conversation between a departing customer and the friendly staff. The best place to swim nearby? Just three minutes down the road at Ohinepane, one of the camping stops for canoeists along the Whanganui River. It was almost check-in time at our B&B and we'd had a lengthy day of travel, but it was also 30 degrees, so it was an easy decision to turn left out of the lavender farm's driveway and head in the opposite direction from Taumarunui.

Ohinepane was just as I'd hoped: an inviting river surrounded by bush. We jumped into the water and swam to a rock shelf on the other side. The swim got a little hairy in the centre of the river when the current grew stronger, but we made it there without incident.

As we sat on the rock, we watched birds flit among the trees and canoeists pull up to the shore and drag their canoes out of the water. Other swimmers splashed around with a happy dog, then exited to find a good tent spot before more people arrived. The dog walked a few paces then shook Whanganui River water over onlookers. But nobody minded — it was a hot day and the river was enticing us all.

Back in the car we headed to our accommodation for the next couple of nights, an idyllic farm cottage offering peace and tranquillity on the edge of Taumarunui.

Earthsounds Country Cottage offers opportunities to get up close to farm animals — the sheep, cows and two alpacas graze right next to the deck when the mood takes them, and there's even food available to hand-feed the alpacas. Alternatively, you can roam over the farm to enjoy the country atmosphere, sit in the garden, or swim in the private river. The spectacular sunsets shouldn't be missed; there are chairs placed on top of the nearest hill, facing west so you can relax while the sun goes down.

After a blissful night's sleep, we awoke with more relaxation in mind. Earthsounds Country Cottage owner Rosemary Filleul is a sound therapist, a practice I had wanted to try for a long time. We signed up for an hour-long “Relaxation Soundbath”. The idea is that every cell in the body has a resonant frequency, and sound therapy helps the body attain its optimal frequency. The therapy can treat specific physical illnesses, balance emotions and quieten a busy mind. As an active relaxer I was eager to see if I could achieve the latter.

My daughter and I lay down in the sound therapy cabin while Rosemary played a combination of ancient and modern instruments, including crystal bowls, Himalayan bowls, a gong, Koshi chimes, a rainstick and harmony bells. The sounds that swept through me while I lay with my eyes closed were beautiful and other-worldly and, incredibly, I did feel myself start to relax. It was a refreshing way to start a day of sightseeing.

The tension returned pretty quickly though when I took a wrong turn during one of my famed “short cuts” (almost impossible to do in a place the size of Taumarunui, but if there is any chance of getting lost, I will always manage it!). I drove for an hour on increasingly deteriorating country roads, slowing to a walking pace at one point while a farmer herded his cows down the road. We eventually popped back onto a highway much further north of Taumarunui at Ongarue, which also happens to be the end of the Timber Trail. I'm not a mountain biker but the Timber Trail is worth mentioning here as it's one of the 22 Great Rides of the Ngā Haerenga New Zealand Cycle Trail Network. The 85-kilometre trail passes through Pureora Forest Park and features 35 bridges including one of the longest suspension bridges in New Zealand, the 141m Maramataha Bridge.

On our last morning in the region we drove to Te Peka Lookout on Hospital Hill for a bird's eye view of Taumarunui, then back down into the township to see where the Whanganui and Ongarue Rivers converge.

We contemplated walking the Sunshine Track recommended to us at the i-SITE, a one-hour return track above the town, passing through kahikatea, totara and pungas, but instead headed slightly further out of Taumarunui to Owhango. This small town marks the end of the 42 Traverse mountain biking trail, and it's also a great spot to take a short hike in the Tongariro Forest Park to break up a long car journey.

We parked at the Whakapapa River Bridge and set off on the Ohinetonga Loop Walk. The 3.8km loop takes between 1½ to 2 hours to complete, passing through native bush and crossing the Ohinetonga lagoon on a boardwalk.

We only walked the first portion of the track (high tea at the Chateau in Whakapapa was calling). We strolled under a high forest canopy and stopped to sit on rocks alongside the river, inhaling the fresh air and enjoying nature. Like the rest of our journey it was a divine place to relax, a word I now consider synonymous with Taumarunui and the district surrounding it.

For more information see:

Earthsounds Nature Therapy Retreat www.earthsounds.nz

Lauren's Lavender Farm www.laurenslavender.co.nz

© Copyright Julie Haines 2022