Mt Messenger on State Highway 3

[@FXWalesAnnaAlf]

Hi Chris this route does look so scenic and so bendy 😃. Loved the coffee break in the 1970s photo of you and your car 🙂Such a gorgeous place to drive and 👍~ Anna

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Anna, Mt Messenger is along one of my favourite routes, I never get sick of it even after driving it for 50 years 😀. Yes coffee break from a thermos, in this country long before the days of a cafe every where you look !!

[@FXWalesAnnaAlf]

@@Chris-NZ Haha love it ! 😃

[@edwardtupper6374]

@@Chris-NZ Pretty sure me mum still has some of those cups :)

[@Chris-NZ]

@@edwardtupper6374 I think my folks had the complete picnic set of them , I’m sure that red one is “borrowed” from their collection , it might have been called “Durrawear” , its was dam near indestructible yet didn’t have that plastic feel. I don’t know where mum and dads went I don’t remember seeing it when my sister and I cleared out their house , it would be a collectable these days 😀

[@BFNLIONBUZZ]

Such creative videos you’ve on this channel. I just subscribed!

[@Chris-NZ]

Hey thanks a lot glad you enjoyed the visit 😀

[@chilleats7024]

What an incredibly scenic drive, I was especially impressed with the lush scenic landscape and trees. It will be interesting to see the final bypass route. Very cool limestone tunnel 👍👍

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi, not my finest in car video but it’s a long way from Auckland for a re-shoot !! The whole of that coast line is very pretty and been the subject of some of my best photos 😀

[@jobird354]

Great job. Mt Messenger looks much straighter than the last time I drove over it, more than 20 years. Thank you so much.

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi, yes I think they have done a bit of “corner bashing” on the route over the years but not really that much. The new route will be hideously boring like all the recent motorway extensions with their massive cuts and fills. 😀

[@jobird354]

@@Chris-NZ Thanks Chris, I'll know what to expect next time I go down there.....lol

[@DeanSmith-zk1rh]

Thay put steering wheels on cars so you can turn you know.

[@maxgrey435]

Been over this so often Chris. Remember being in a dance band in my youth and playing at several New year Dances at Mokau. Seemed a long way from Waitara. Sentimental about North Taranaki. Cheers mate

[@Chris-NZ]

Arh Mokau home of the famous whitebait fritter sandwiches. This has been one of my most popular videos, don’t me why !! Definitely had the mini clubman on three wheels around there in my more reckless days !!

[@itskevhere1954]

Loved your video, music choice is great, I made a video awhile back on my motor bike over the mountain, the plan is to make another one when the new road opens, I live in Inglewood so we travel that road a lot can't wait for the new road to be finished

[@Chris-NZ]

@@itskevhere1954 that’s interesting I had friends in Inglewood and unfortunately my last trip down was to attend the funeral of the last one, Joan she was 91. I’ve been visiting Inglewood since the early 1970’s when they moved there from Wellington. They were in Miro street.

[@MorebeerNev]

Love this stretch of road, one of my all time faviourites for spirited driving (keeping within the speed limit of course) Thanks for posting

[@Chris-NZ]

I know that feeling, drove it many times in my exuberant years (the 1970's) in my Mini Clubman 1100 as well as a passenger in my mates Mini (the picture in the video) as well as on a variety of motorbikes in the same period. Lets face it pretty hard to do over 100 except in short bursts - arh - those were the days 😀 not a "black and white" to be seen.😀. Glad you enjoyed the vid , soon the trip will be as boring as every other NZTA road of "national significance" , in this case just shifting the (few) crashes to the next crappy spot . .

[@kyliehewitt788]

I like the photo on the right to explain “cableway for moving equipment and staff “. Interesting new technology 😊😊😊

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Kylie , its a pretty massive structure that for sure 😀

[@terryadams4857]

Wow I have just been back after20 odd years ,couldn’t believe how much the have widened and straightened it out😳still a great drive.the construction looks interesting will be interesting to see how the bypass ends up after all the controversy.remember my dad always saying they will tunnel the lot.i wonder what will happen to the old rd🤔

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Terry, I’ve been driving this route since the early 70’s, a little more enthusiastically back then in my 1100 Mini and yes I’m sure many of the bends have been eased over that time. One thing for sure the new route won’t present much of a challenge to drivers and I’m sure motorcyclists . Good question on the old route.

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video Chris, a bit of history which you won't be aware of is, I have cycled from Auckland to Wellington 5 times raising money for daffodil day 3 of those times were via the taranaki and obviously the route you have just shown us, thanks for sharing

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Tony, thats quite a cycling achievement just once but five times, well done. This has been one of my more popular videos for some reason but if you’ve seen my more recent “last trip to Taranaki “ video you’ll get a hint at why I won’t be making the drive to New Plymouth for a while, I must have done it hundreds of times since the early 1970’s. Any thoughts of returning to KZbin ?

[@tonymckeage1028]

@@Chris-NZ many thoughts, no action yet

[@potater6163]

this is so helpfull, I live about an hour away and have started getting into car films, I wanted a video to see if it would be worth filming some driving there

[@Chris-NZ]

@@potater6163 Cool idea, but if you are in New Plymouth there are certain truckloads of less busy backroads with nice curves under the mountain. I used to shoot a lot of car and motorcycle film there in the 1970’s. As for State Highway 3 and areas around NP take a look at the video I made a few weeks back titled “my last trip to Taranaki..in a while”.

[@michelebourke4340]

so sad to know how it's being stuffed up....beautiful scenic drive...only takes a few mins....what a ballsup.

[@Chris-NZ]

@@michelebourke4340 probably depends who you are. Truckies doing the route regularly will be happy (at one end of the scale ) and enthusiastic motorcyclists won’t be (at the other end of the scale)

[@edwardtupper6374]

@@Chris-NZ Yup, long straights are the early demise of expensive motorcycle tyres! Besides that, it's always a more engaging ride, with less traffic, fewer folks in a rush, when you choose B roads. I hope this route remains open to the public after the bypass is opened.

[@Chris-NZ]

@@edwardtupper6374 I’d say the chances of the road remaining open after the new road is completed is zero. That seems to only happen on tolled new routes when NZTA are obligated to keep a free route open but of course hand all maintenance to the local body. There is a tendency to ignore maintenance on bypassed routes in the hope that cost will fall on the local body when it’s handed back (he said cynically) - State Highways are 100% funded by the tax payer while local roads are funded by local body rates with a small subsidy from the fuel tax. When I drove this route last November it was falling apart but when I drove it again in April this year I noted a lot had been spent on new seal !!

[@MerleDoughty-yw6cl]

I have often wondered if there was a more direct route of that feature, commencing back before you get to the bottom of Mt Messenger, even a tunnel which would exit to the left as you come down the other side, Yes I know this road well having traversed it way back in the 50s with my parents if a Morris Minor, I once did a trip in the 50s to deliver a tractor to the then MOW camp over the far side past Ahittiti that was where the long straight is

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Merie , wow that must have been some exercise in the 1950’s, I assume it was gravel road back then. Check out this NZTA Fly-over I just found on KZbin . Easier but pretty ugly compared to the old route, but typical of the brutal way roads are constructed theses days despite vast amounts of greenwashing being undertaken. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqiwo6iBht2deqcsi=2zLMkpUM5GhbH9Dd

[@johnmuldrock]

There is a coastal stock route which I'm at a loss to understand why they didn't use that! Guess where the gas pipeline going to Auckland goes!

[@MerleDoughty-yw6cl]

@@johnmuldrock That road took you out to the coast to the White Cliffs, The Waipingau Gorge is a very deep feature, I went out to that place when the pipeline was being constructed, it is steep rough country and very prone to land movement. Then you would have to come across land, again an owner who was not happy with the pipeline going through his property and on across the mouth of the Tongaporutu river

[@JenniferLupine]

Beautiful drive Chris! Fun to see the throw back photo! The drive looks fun and very tropical… but I can see why they might want to make it straighter - maybe the idea is to make it safer. It is sad that they have to cut down trees and forest to make the new road. New Zealand is beautiful! ☀💚💚 - Jen

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi Jennifer, For sure this route will be a lot prettier than the new one with the modern habit of making monstrous cuts and fills in the name of lower grades, you’ll see a lot of them in the video I did on the Puhoi to Warkworth extension of the Northern motorway a few months back, the problem being they never “heal” and are always treeless scars on the landscape !I have friends in New Plymouth which is a few km to the west of Mt Messenger with New Plymouth being about 400 km from Auckland so I’ve driven that route many times over the years including with my best friend (their son, in this instance thats his Mini) although probably with each passing year a little slower than the last !! It’s also a popular route for motorcyclists with at least half the route from Auckland providing the kind of challenges that appeal to the two wheeled brigade. 😀

[@JenniferLupine]

@@Chris-NZ I was thinking my husband Steve would love riding that sort of road on his motorcycle! He sold it just a couple years ago, and now has a mini for fun!! lol!! Yes, I know what you mean about the road scars and not healing… we’ve got our share of ugly road cuts here. Maybe they need to blend a little Art with road construction!

[@brianfanning9030]

Beautiful bush!

[@Chris-NZ]

Thanks a lot Brian, it is indeed a really pretty area 😀

[@chrisrea7347]

Nice scenic video, and interesting update! Have travelled over this route hundreds of times since the middle 70's. In a way it will be a shame to modernise this section of the road.

[@Chris-NZ]

@@chrisrea7347 ditto since the 1970’s , and feel the same way. Our new bypasses are usually not a patch on the original when it comes to “scenic”. NZTA have a “fly over” video of the new route and it’s all monster cuts that will never grow any greenery.

[@craigpeters7842]

Is it staying open after bypass opening?. Haven't been there since I was a kid.

[@Chris-NZ]

@@craigpeters7842 highly unlikely.

[@bizzlebasil1]

I can remember this highway before it was sealed. But then I'm ancient.

[@Chris-NZ]

Wow that must have been a while back 😀.

[@eileenlynetteadams9182]

I can also. Puke material for us younger ones as the road was much narrower with several hair pin bends. Dad and mum got us singing 'she' ll be combining round the mountain etc. We drove over this in the 60's twice a year. One time at 11pm our van and a truck got stuck in the tunnel for a couple of hrs. Got home after 3am and still got woken up at 6:30 am to get jobs done and catch the bus for school.

[@deanedeane4318]

Absolutely brilliant section of road ! Maybe you might strap your camera on a motorcycle and do it again !?! We were taught to drive to the conditions , I guess this modern world can't process that . - a bit like the muppits pushing for the new bypass road ... Dicracefull . Thankyou for the video ... Cool mini ! 😉🙃😎Motueka

[@Chris-NZ]

@@deanedeane4318 hi, thanks a lot. Yes over the years I think we’ve been over-spoon feeding motorists as if they were all idiots. These ridiculous speed limits we are seeing case in point. If you can’t read the road what the &@#% are you doing on it? Thanks for the Mini comment, I think between my best mate and I we had about five minis over time. Had a lot of fun in them for sure, I towed a small sailboat with one of them, that used to get some interesting looks 😀😀 I wish I’d kept one in a garage somewhere, it would be worth five times what it was new. 😀

[@andrewmackaybryan]

What I find so astonishing is the disgraceful condition of the road. I drove over it 2 years ago and it was bad then. Clearly much worse now. When is the bypass going to open? If it is not in the next couple of months, this road should be fixed. It is completely unacceptable that a State Highway is in such disrepair. The bureaucrats who have allowed this to happen should have their immunity from prosecution waived for such a shocking and deliberate dereliction of duty.

[@Chris-NZ]

I think I mentioned this in another reply , I've driven it several times between 2022 and April this year and it was certainly crap, when I saw it in 2022 but in April it had had many substantial repairs , not saying its good enough but I'm pretty sure why would NZTA spend money on a road thats being replaced when repairs are designed to last . Or could it be do nothing or the bare minimum to get by ...... Either way our highway network right across the country is turning to shit because of delayed maintenance going back to a philosophical change at NZTA around 2010 when maintenance was cut back , not just to state highway but in reduced funding to local bodies via NZTA's subsidy for local Roading, not that its their money having been collected via the fuel tax . How else could the state highways gold plated motorway extensions be funded , sure they are built to high safety standards but at what cost to the rest of the roading network.? Of course with the rail network being allowed to slide heavy trucks are pounding the roads to death , its the trucks that do the damage not light vehicles , sure they pay more in RUC but is it being spent where its being collected ? 😀

[@Kandi-tg]

Were you going from south to north ?

[@Chris-NZ]

From south to north 😀

[@Kandi-tg]

@@Chris-NZ Thank you

[@allanedwards8238]

north 7:02

[@Maidthatkoolaid]

Was this the new route that destroyed native area of untouched wetlands where the endangered long tail bat was known to inhabit in much larger numbers than anywhere else ??? Nzta took peoples generational farmlands and homes without following their own agreements to ensure Re homing of cattle all sorts of nefarious doings if this is same highway 😢

[@Chris-NZ]

Hi, my video is the existing route that goes back decades, some of my older friends remembered when it was unsealed !. I don’t know when the new route will open , maybe in 2026. I don’t know about the cattle, I have seen a video that presents a very one sided version of events. But I do know the planning for this highway has been a long time in the making with issues around crashes, closures due to slips (it is the only north south route between Auckland and New Plymouth) as well as claimed time and fuel savings especially for the many heavy vehicle using the route. Given that for the greater good you just can’t have single land owners holding out when projects are proposed we have “The public works act” which after significant negotiations can force owners to sell, otherwise things like our motorways and other roading improvements just wouldn’t get done. As far as I know NZTA has put in place significant mitigating measures including pest management for the foreseeable future , which wasn’t in place previously.

[@liang8827]

Nice video 😊😅 nice😅 photo of you with very young age😂

[@Chris-NZ]

Thanks, many happy memories traversing that road with my friend Jim 😀