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TRAVELLERLow-drama adventuresDavid Whitley rides, climbs and paddles around TaranakiINSIDE THE TUNNEL, a tinyflicker of daylight throughthe arch in the distancestaves off total darkness.Train driving, it turns out,is not for the claustrophobic.For anyone harbouring longlingeringchildhood fantasies ofbeing a train driver, the Stratford toOkahukura line is the closest you’llget to it without years of tuition.Kiwirail took the line out of serviceafter a derailment in 2009, but anenterprising local farmer has putit to new use.And that’s how I find myself ona specially adapted golf buggy –it has been fitted with special steelwheels to ensure it stays on the track– driving through dairy country. Thebuggies trundle along the railway at20km/h, making that familiar clacketyclack.Sheep scatter, cows just standand stare. It’s delightfully silly and aglorious way to explore the hilly andforested countryside in the backblocksof eastern Taranaki.It’s low-drama adventure, withonly vague stress at level crossings.But the road running alongside thetrack is known as the Forgotten WorldHighway. Most cars seen along theway are parked up, their driverstaking photos of strange golf buggies.After a couple of hours of inanegrinning behind the wheel, it’s timeto pull over in Whangamomona,the village that declared itself anindependent republic in 1989. As wewalk into the pub to have a look atthe national archive of newspaperclippings, a chap with a huge,scraggly beard walks past. “That’s thepresident,” says the lady at the bar.On the way back down the track,the afternoon sun burns away theclouds and brings Mt Taranaki intofull view. It really is a stunner, rising asa seemingly-perfect cone above thelandscape. But, it has an air of powerfulmenace about it, which makes merealize the next day’s adventuremight not be quite as relaxing andcarefree as this day’s has been.The Pouakai Crossing is thesupposedly gentler alternative toconquering Mt Taranaki’s summit– a pitfall-laden trek that gets fit,experienced trampers weeping at itsbrutality. The Crossing starts in muchthe same way – up from the NorthEgmont car park – before divertingacross the north face and up intothe neighbouring Pouakai Ranges.Arriving at the car park for sunriseis an extraordinary privilege. Behindis the Tasman Sea and ahead themighty volcano glows red. Part of MtTaranaki’s power is that it has so manydifferent looks, depending on yourviewing angle and the time of day.The walk begins with a steadyuphill plod, with the summit seemingtantalizingly close, yet remainingfrustratingly far away. But it starts62 AA Directions Winter 2013