Next time your heading North or South, take the detour and visit scenic Taumaranui. It's on the Adventure Highway (State Highway 4) and starts the Forgotten World Highway in the central King Country of the North Island.  Part of the Ruapehu District, Taumarunui is centrally located – detour through here to either Auckland or Wellington.  This is a beautiful scenic route with views of Mt. Ruapehu and the Wanganui River.  Taumarunui provides access to the Whanganui National Park, Dual Listed World Heritage Tongariro National Park and the Pureora Timber Trail.

One of the best adventures is a Rail Cart Journey through the forgotten world. 

The journey starts at Okahukura and takes you through 10 tunnels, with the longest being 1.5km. They are all brick and hand built. The railway line was constructed in 1903 and survived in commercial uses until 2009. Use of the Whanganui River alongside rail was used to ship saw milled timber out of the area along with farm products. The "Main Trunk Line connected Wellington to Auckland and was the main refreshment stop on the journey. It is 680km long. At its peak 2700 worked on the construction.

The meaning f Tumarunui….Taumaru: screen; nui: large. The story behind the name is that when the chief Pehi Turoa was dying he asked that a screen be erected to shade him from the sun. He died before the work was completed, with the words 'taumaru nui' on his lips.

Taumarunui is famous for it's cycling and walking trails which can take from 30m to 4 hours.  But there is so much more to do as well, like visiting the Lavender Farm or just walking through town.