The park has a sprinkling of huts, a lodge and numerous camping grounds. Along the Taumarunui-Pipiriki section are three Category II huts classified as Great Walks Huts during summer and Serviced Huts in the off-season: the Whakahoro Hut at Whakahoro, and the John Coull Hut and Tieke Kainga, which has been revived as a marae. [...]
The Wanganui region’s lifeblood is the Whanganui River running through the Whanganui National Park. Despite the fact that there’s more sitting down than walking involved, canoeing or kayaking the ‘Whanganui Journey’ is classed as one of NZ’s Great Walks. Early Maoris named the river’s estuary (over 30km long) Whanganui, meaning ‘Great Harbour’ or ‘Great Wait’.
Read [...]
The Wanganui and Manawatu districts comprise a sizable chunk of the North Island’s south, running from Tongariro National Park in the north down towards Wellington. This is mellow, pastoral country, draped with rounded green hills, gently bent roads, socially significant cities and magical national parks, rivers and gorges.
Read more for detail and Video tours from [...]
With rafts of casual Huck Finn sensibility, Wanganui is a raggedy historic town on the banks of the wide Whanganui River. Despite the recent NZ housing boom, local real estate remains relatively cheap, much to the satisfaction of the thriving arts community. Old port buildings are being turned into glass-art studios and the town centre [...]
The rich sheep- and dairy-farming Manawatu region embraces the districts of Rangitikei to the north and Horowhenua to the south. The hub of it all, on the banks of the Manawatu River, is Palmerston North, with its moderate high-rise attempts reaching up from the plains. Massey University, NZ’s largest, informs the town’s cultural and social [...]