This is a video of my home town with it’s Victorian buildings. I took it on a quiet Saturday of Queens Birthday Weekend.
The walk begins at Taupo Quay, Moutoua Gardens, crosses Ridway Street, skirts Queens Park, goes through Majestic Square and crosses the main street, Victoria Ave and then crosses St Hill Street to Cooks Gardens.
From Cooks Gardens I try to give you a view of Mount Ruapehu.
We walked back home via the lift which I couldn’t show you because my camera ran out of room, but here’s the Durie Hill elevator.
Below are some photos of downtown Wanganui.
Moutoua GardensCooks GardensVictoria Ave, I once worked in this building
Today’s walk was along the banks of the historic Whanganui River, from the town bridge to the Dublin St bridge along Somme Parade Anzac Parade. The stroll included Kowai Park, a wonderful children’s park, on the Anzac Pde side of the river by the Dublin St bridge, and the James McGregor Memorial park. This park contains an arboretum with a collection of trees dating back to 1917.
Starting off at Durie Hill, the suburb where we now live, we walked down the stairs by the Durie Hill Tower to the river. There’s a historic elevator inside the hill but the tunnel is currently blocked by a slip. The elevator was constructed during World War 1 and the flu pandemic 100 years ago and finished in 1919. It makes our suburb kind of unique in NZ.
Before roads, the river was the main route north. A fleet of paddlesteamers used to ply the river from Wanganui to Pipiriki and back. With a length of 290 kilometres (180 mi), the Whanganui is the country’s third-longest river.
Two riverboats have been restored, the Waimarie and the Wairua.
Virginia Lake is Wanganui’s jewel, a really pretty lake on St John’s Hill. You’ll pass it if you’re heading west-northwest to Taranaki. It only takes about 45 minutes to walk around.
There’s also a bird aviary and the Winter Gardens, an art deco hot house. My favourite thing is the Higginbottom Fountain, installed in 1971, the year my family arrived in the Wanganui area. The copper fountain is in the shape of a lily. A 40-minute lighting display occurs every evening, coinciding with when the streetlights are switched on. The display can be activated at any other time by placing a gold coin into the slot.
The aquatic bird life is prolific, with lots of chicks to be seen on our walk.
The video features my young cousin, and a goose who remembered her from last time …
Virginia LakeThe Peter Pan statueThe Higginbottom fountain was modelled atfer the water lilyBy the gates, reminds me of Aslan
This is my first walk from Wanganui, my new / old hometown. Sadly we had to relocate and there will be no more Auckland / Northland walks for the forseeable future. We arrived back on the 7th November 2021, after enduring 82 days of lockdown in Auckland over one Covid case. Auckland is NZ’s largest city, and it’s still locked down, 112 days later.
There’s more freedom in the regions but discrimination as well.
I would have happily put a link for the cafe in the old caretaker’s cottage next to the Winter Gardens, but not after seeing their sign.
“Only Vaccinated Customers please”
I’m not able to go in. I’ve been having cancer treatment since November 2020, and for safety reasons have elected to wait until 2023 before even considering the so-called “vaccine.” So people like me are discriminated against.
We came back and had a picnic on the lawn in front of that cafe a few days later. I thought there’d be three friends but 30 people turned up. How much business are cafes like this going to lose?
Things are not going back to normal, but even if they did, I wouldn’t go back in there. I understand the cafes are between a rock and a hard place, but the sign excluding me was there before the 2nd December when NZ adopted the medical aparteid system.
We are also barred from DOC (Dept of Conservation) huts and camping sites. “For our health.”
You’ll hear us mention the NZ government on the walk. I wish the lion on the plinth at the gate would turn into Aslan and boot the witch out of Narnia.
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Note: the above cafe has appeared in the local paper since I wrote about this on the 7th December:
Owner of the Funky Duck Cafe Dave Hill said increased costs across the board alongside very low numbers of customers has them in a tough spot. Photo / Bevan Conley
The Waitaha Pa is between Wanganui and the village of Upukongaro. Waitaha means “beside water,” like the bank of a river. It’s an ancient pa and the iwi (tribe) who lived here is not known.
The pa was in a good defensive position above the river. They could keep an eye on the river and they were able to grow food like kumara on the river flats.
Waitaha Pa, Whanganui River
I grew up in Okoia, the same area as Waitaha Pa and the farm I lived on was in a nearby valley. It was there that I found an adze of black rock, or rather, it found me. I wonder if it was from this pa. Okoia means to scrape or rasp.
I want to find out more about the people who lived here. Who were the Waitaha? Where did they go?
Walk: Wanganui 20
The spelling of Wanganui
Wanganui was renamed “Whanganui” by maori activists, against the wishes of the local people. The name Wanganui is actually a Waitaha name. There is also a place and a river named ‘Wanganui’ on the West coast of the South Island. The location is probably named by the same people. They did not use the ‘wh’ sound.
The Waitaha people
The Waitaha are an ancient tribe. Since visiting the pa site in 2020, I’ve done hours of research. To learn more go here:- The first people The research is ongoing as at 2025. I’ve been to Marlborough but have yet to investigate Waitaha sites in Nelson and Canterbury.
The historic homestead is beautiful. My favourite feature is the stained glass window in the entrance foyer. I’ve been there several times before but it was the first visit for my husband and sister-in-law.
Highlights of the visit: the historic house and beautiful forest with it’s massive trees and bird-life. It’s not often you can walk through virgin bush with huge, ancient trees like Ratanui (photo on the left) and see incredibly rare forest birds like the Saddleback and the Hihi.
My own video – it’s nowhere near as good as above, but it shows the stables, and a bellbird feasting on nectar from red hot poker plants bordering the lawn.
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Bushy park, Wanganui
Bushy Park, Bellbird
Picture: The Twin Ponga path, a saddleback foraging on the forest floor, and a bellbird eating nectar by the lawn.
Walk: Wanganui 16
History
James Moore from the Shetland Islands arrived in New Zealand in June 1863. He and future brother-in-law James Currie founded the Bushy Park farm around 1865.
During the 1880’s the Moore/Currie partnership ended. The farm was prosperous and by 1890 it had become a significant property. Sadly during the 11 years from 1891 to 1902 the family perished, and the sole survivor was the youngest son, George Francis (Frank) Maitland Moore.
Frank commissioned C.Tilleard Natusch to design the Bushy Park Homestead and it was completed in 1906. He never married, and passed away in 1962 aged 85. He gifted his house and the attached forest to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.
“The seemingly never-ending maintenance of the old house was handled by teams of volunteers while further teams looked after the extensive grounds including lawns, hedges and tracks.
Frank Moore’s handyman, Ernie Paulger was the first custodian and retired in 1964. There were a number of custodians and managers in the thirty years following.”
7th Dec 2024 I went for another walk where we saw the rare hihi and saddleback birds. We also saw a bellbird. This video is of the birds encountered on our walk: Bushy Park birds, Dec 2024
NZShortWalks 