After the show, with still over 2 hours daylight left, I tried the road to Wharite Peak, 920 metres , as I heard it was now open to the top and gave access to the Ruahine Ranges Forest Park and I don’t get over to this area very often.
Great views from the top, but last hundred metres in heavy mist.
Quite windy at that height, the local top Rugby team is called the Turbos.
The Manawatu Gorge, railway on one side, road on the other, is in the dip between the two ” farms ” of turbos.
The steep faces above the road are rather unstable after heavy rain and slide down often — a very big one in August.
Cheers John.