It’s all about the river and the past

In the sunshine, the city is quite a delight. Some cities have repurposed their buildings and modernised their downtowns, but Whanganui has retained its old-town charm with heritage buildings looking fresh and spruce down the main street, Whanganui services a population of just over 40 000 people,

The Whanganui River is still the centrepiece and focus of the city. At 290km it’s New Zealand’s third-longest river (after the Waikato at 425km, and the Clutha at 322km). It has a special status for the region’s Māori people and is one of only two natural resources worldwide to have the status of a legal person. (Te Urewera is the other.)

We took a ride on the , a genuine coal-fired paddle steamer dating from 1899. The ship sank accidentally in 1952 but was recovered in 1993 and lovingly restored by a dedicated group of volunteers.