Whangamomona Republic Day: That time I went to vote for a cat in an election… New Zealand Travel Guide | Taranaki Published: January 2019 In what may have been the most bizarre sales pitch of my life, I rallied around the crew in the hostel to sell them the idea of going to vote for a cat in an Election in the self-proclaimed republic of Whangamomona. I didn’t know how to pronounce it, I didn’t know if the cat would win, but somehow, I convinced my new found friends the Whangamomona Republic Day was an event not to miss. Having based myself in New Plymouth for the first few weeks of my time living in New Zealand, I was quickly coming to realise there were a lot of weird and wacky things celebrated here in New Zealand. From the giant carrots and L&P bottles I’d passed on the highways, to the surprisingly great New Plymouth light festival where we had seen a fire dancer accidentally launch their flaming button into a row full of children in the days before, the squad ...