WHANGANUI town

Whanganui’s population hovers in and around the 42,000 mark. “Big enough to draw crowds, small enough to be intimate”, is the official description.

Whanganui’s climate is temperate and the compact town centre is walkable and very pretty, with colourful flower baskets, and a good selection of street eateries. The average house price is also the lowest in the country, hence the rising number of big-city runaways finding their feet in Whanganui. As throughout history, the river is the focal point. It was the reason Maori settled here; what brought European settlers up the coast from Wellington in the late 1800s; and is the principal drawcard for modern outdoor adventurers.