WAVERLEY is the southernmost town on State Highway 3 of the Taranaki province, and most tend to relate it to being in the Whanganui province. Whanganui City is just 44 km away from Waverley. For locals, a fair majority travel there for schooling, work, sport, shopping and general entertainment. For a small town with a pop of 900 plus, it has a lot of history from its early years as a stronghold of the NZ Wars in the 1860s. Today, it is well known for its farming and thoroughbred stables, and in 2021 the skyline changed with 31 wind turbines gracing the coastline from Waverley to Patea.
Waverley is locked into New Zealand's history forever by a horse named KIWI. In 1983 KIWI won the Melbourne Cup, the pinnacle of horse racing worldwide. Waverley's “Snowy” Lupton wife Anne purchased KIWI for $1000 and gave her husband half share who trained KIWI. He didn't expect it would win The Cup and KIWIS original role was to round up sheep on the farm.. On that
