Ongarue Cottage is located in the beautiful and peaceful village of Ongarue. The pace is slow and the community live the way NZ’ers did in the old days. It also has a long and proud history - it had a population of 3,500 servicing one of the largest timber milling companies in Southern Hemisphere. Today our little village has about 40 residents. The town’s history has been extensively chronicled in a moving 500 page book, entitled “Ongarue: a Place of the Heart”.
Key assets of the village include: ● a camp site with toilets and picnic table ● a primary school and a swimming pool ● a Maori Marae (community meeting centre) ● a Catholic Church (currently not used) ● a century-old saleyard which auctions up to 15,000 sheep over two days every year ● a magnificent 75 metre swimming hole, with beach and plenty of trout ... ● and NZ’s smallest jail, with room for only two prisoners!
The only accommodation available in Ongarue is the Ongarue Cottage and Blackfern Lodge (across the road).
Ongarue is also the official end point of the magnificent Timber Trail Great Ride (see earlier blog), and has lots of other adventures and attractions nearby for those who aren’t cyclists:
● NZ’s largest Alpaca Farm, with tourists visiting from all around the world.
● Epic Cycles has established its base just outside the village and set up a “glamping site” for cyclists in the middle of the forest
● Forgotten World Adventures, which operates from a base near us and offers half day to three day adventures on railway carts all the way to Mt Taranaki, helicopter rides and the longest jet-boat ride in the Southern Hemisphere down the great Whanganui River. This innovative company has recently been voted NZ’s top tourist operator of the year in its category.
● Close by is a beautiful short walk through native forest to the undiscovered by spectacular Omaru Falls.
For those who stay in Ongarue, it’s a perfect base for many other adventures in the region too:
● the beautiful Lavender Farm & Café
● the famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves
● spectacular kayaking down the Whanganui River
● unrivalled trout fishing at Lake Taupo, NZ’s largest.
● the Mt Ruapehu ski-fields – largest in the southern hemisphere
● and “the Crossing” - a great day walk past live volcanoes, and rated NZ’s second most popular tourist attraction.
For more details on these and other adventures that await you from your base in Ongarue, see our other blog on Things to See & Do.
NZ is a very beautiful country and a lot of that beauty is to be found near us. So while your with us, don't just do the Cycleway - why not explore our beautiful region as well?
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