Old signs in Whanganui.

First bridge NB, the Mangamanaia Rail Overbridge.


The railroad parallels NZ 3 between the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges in the southern North Island.


New Zealand's old font on display along Cambridge Ave. in Ashhurst leaving NZ 3.


Fancy old signs NB in Palmerston North. The spelling of Wanganui changed in the 2010s, but these signs are clearly much older.


SB in Palmerston North. Is it really necessary to colour the middle dot yellow (more orange, really) when the sign background is already yellow? Is it really necessary to put extra blank signal heads into the backplate instead of just covering over the unused portion? The answer to these is, "New Zealand."


Top or bottom, make up your mind!


Modern art in the roundabout at the southern beginning of NZ 4.


You know this shield is old because it has a red back and it's on a wood post. This is NB beyond Whanganui.


Entering Patea across the eponymous river.


A kludgy attempt at a pavement shield, NB in Hawera.

Time to get a new sign.


Railroad crossing north of Normanby.


Old signs in Stratford.

Light pole topper in Inglewood.


Old signs in New Plymouth, ironically. The first two face south on different routes and only the shields have prematurely faded. The last sign is on the EB roadway connecting the one-way pair of NZ 3. The WB roadway is NZ 3 NB, so for lack of anything to call EB I'm pretending it's part of NZ 44.


Heading north through Mt. Messenger Tunnel with some impressive rock cuts beyond, then a faraway look back south at the tunnel mouth.


Across the Tongaporutu River to the Awakino Tunnel. Click for closeup of the tunnel and its unusual rock formations.


From the tunnel we head to the Awakino River. I waited several minutes for the grader to finish compacting a metre of gravel into a relatively flat riding surface.


Who wants to identify this old car I spotted in Piopio?


Remember NZ 4? Back at that tall spiral sculpture? NZ 4 is a straight north-south cutoff for NZ 3, which heads west to the coast and then heads back northeast. So I've got a photo at each end for you. This is an example of an afterthought.


Old signs galore at Ward St. in Te Kuiti.


It's exceedingly rare for New Zealand to sign a concurrency. NZ 39 is a newer route, created to bypass Hamilton to the west. As a result, it was overlapped with existing NZ 31 down to the south end to create a continuous route from NZ 3 to NZ 1.


Continuing north to Mangapiko Stream on the north side of Te Awamutu, shortly before NZ 3 comes to an end in Hamilton.

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