by Tony Orman
I’ve always had an urge to drive up country roads and explore. Perhaps it’s to escape the state highway with its high speed and volumes of traffic? Or perhaps it’s a nostalgia kick just to delve into heartland New Zealand, almost replicating yesterday when the country was less urbanised, the pace was slower and you might encounter a local farmer, trampers or a trout fisherman?
Trout! That reminds me one time in South Canterbury following a country road that headed into the towering backdrop of the Southern Alps and where i discovered a lovely spring-fed stream, crystal clear, grassed to the water’s edge and with three or four big trout visible from the roadside. On a home-tied Stonefly nymph, I winked one fish out that was a splendid six pound plus brown trout. But there was another there that looked much bigger than the one I landed.
I tend to under-estimate the size of trout in the water, but if the one I caught was over 6 pounds, then the bigger fish must’ve ben nudging double figures (i.e. 10 lbs or 4.4 kgs) in weight. That was down a country road.
But I digress.
Sufficient to say and reiterate I’ve a strong urge to explore country roads. Occasionally here and there are instances where you can leave the state highway, explore a country road and rejoin the state highway.
I’ve done it in both the North and South Islands. In the South Island – in the latter, on country roads or 4WD tracks in central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin.
In the North Island, one was leaving Taihape and driving via country roads in the shadow of the Ruahine Range to Ashhurst by the Manawatu Gorge.
But a favourite I’ve done a few times is Route 52. Basically the 200 km Route 52 links the town of Waipukurau in southern Hawkes Bay and the Wairarapa’s town of Masterton, passing through Porangahau, Wimbledon, Pongaroa, Glenross and Alfredton
Waihi Falls easily reached off Route 52
You can deviate off Route 52 to places like Herbertville beach or Akitio Beach or the spectacular Waihi Falls, plus other highlights.
Simon Burt of the Wairarapa did the same but over a greater period of time than I did, as he frequently stopped to acquaint himself with locals and chat to them. His recently published book details his experiences and interviews with locals, along Route 52.
Remember George Wilder, an escaped prisoner who in the 1960s entranced New Zealand with his evasion of the police?
if you don’t remember or were too young at the time, George Wilder was a minor criminal and after his prison escape and at large, burgled baches and respectfully left “apology and thank-you” notes. He was at large for 65 days and became a folk hero in the process. At one stage he is reported to have even joined in a shoulder to shoulder search through rough country for himself, somehow dodging his pursuers with daring moves. These exploits seemed to almost endear him to the public who increasingly cheered him on.
A pop song by the then popular Howard Morrison Quartet “George the Wilder New Zealander Boy” hit the radio waves. After his release from prison, George Wilder lived a reclusive life in Route 52 country and author Simon Burt carefully crafts a chapter around the legend.
Other chapters feature other locals and give an insight into heartland New Zealand and its people.
One Heck of a Name
There’s an interesting chapter on the longest place name (taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu) reputedly in the world, near Porangahau.
Route 52’s rural way of life go back many decades to those of the first decades of European settlement. But things are changing, so if you’re heading that way and take Route 52, do it soon because of carbon farming and pines.
The author describes “vast swathes of dark green” (pines) and writes “I could feel them sucking the life out of the soil—-sucking life from the community, too.”
This and other similar comments, reveal the author’s and Route 52 locals’ sadness by the impending “cancerous” monoculture.
It’s an interesting, absorbing read. The author in engaging style, writes of the history, individual farms and the people – before they are engulfed by it seems an inevitable monoculture of pines.
Grab the book, read and then drive Route 52 – before it’s too late.
Footnote:- Route 52 – A Big Lump of Country Unknown, by Simon Burt, published by Ugly Hill Press. Price $39.99. Reviewed by Tony Orman
