River Rd mail run delivers delights
If you’ve never travelled the Whanganui River Rd and don’t fancy driving yourself, you could hitch a ride with Tracey Marshall in her rural mail delivery van. Liz Wylie did and discovered the joys of being in the passenger seat with a guide who is part of
It’s still dark at 7am when we set off from Whanganui on a Wednesday morning. Tracey Marshall has been working since 5am. She’s ensured her partner Linda Andracic is ready for a busy day at Gonville Post + More, a business they own and run alongside Whanganui Tours and Mail Run which they took over in 2020.
We meet at the NZ Post depot in Church Place where Tracey has loaded the mail, copies of the Whanganui Chronicle and Whanganui Midweek and a few essentials for our journey.
Tracey drives from Whanganui to Pipiriki (and sometimes further) five days a week and says she never finds it tiresome or dull.
I’m her only passenger today but on other days there are up to four visitors, often with cycles on board, heading to destinations along the river.
“I love the road, it’s my home, the place I come from, and every day is different. I grew up here, Koriniti is my marae and I went to Parikino School on the bus every day.”
After spending 28 years living in Sydney Tracey says she is glad to be home with her people and the place she loves most.
She tells me the paddocks along the Whanganui end of the road were mostly planted with crops during her childhood. “There was corn, kumara and watermelon growing along here. People are still really good at growing food for themselves and wha¯nau so
they don’t need to come into town too often.”
Orchards are thriving with crops of avocados, macadamia, lime and nashi pears.
Tracey’s uncle, Adam Marshall, developed a thriving honey business after integrating ma¯nuka into his traditional sheep and beef farm several years ago.
Sealing of the Whanganui River Rd began in the 1950s and the last section from Hiruha¯rama — Jerusalem to Pipiriki was finally completed in 2014.
As we stop at one letterbox, Tracey spots a sheep that’s wedged between a fence post and a water trough in a paddock opposite.
Chronicle photographer Bevan Conley, following behind us, has noticed it too and jumps the ditch to set it free. It skips off to join its flock without a backward glance.
The letterboxes of the Whanganui River Rd are testimony to the creative repurposing abilities of the residents.
They include some cut-down 40-gallon drums, a sawn-off canoe, a painted miniature whare, refrigerators, a lawn mower catcher, and creatively carved fence posts.
“There’s a new one at my uncle’s house,” Tracey says. “Uncle Dino and Aunty Patty’s microwave oven stopped working so he’s turned it into a new letterbox.”
As we near one letterbox, a couple of young pigs race towards the fence as they see the van approaching.
“I bring our scrap bucket from home for them,” says Tracey as the poaka gobble up her donation.
The mail van, I discover, is a bit like a magic Mary Poppins bag with treats lurking behind the stacks of letters and parcels.
We make¯a stop at the Rivertime Lodge at Atene (Athens) where Tracey delivers maps of Whanganui city to some Australian cyclists she had dropped off the day before.
“They are planning to stop in Whanganui for a couple of days so I want to make sure they know where the cycle routes are.”
Tracey’s old school at Parikino, along with those at Ra¯nana and Pipiriki, closed in 2005 when the decision was made to merge the three schools due to falling roll numbers.
Te Kura o Te Wainui-a¯-Rua was established at the Ra¯nana site.
Buildings at the former school sites have been repurposed and there is kauma¯tua housing at Parikino. The former Pipiriki School site is home to Whanganui River Adventures & Camping Grounds.
We stop at Koriniti marae where the urupa¯ is beautifully situated on a hill surrounded by trees. Also known as Otukopiri, the marae is home to Nga¯ti Pa¯moana hapu¯ of Te A¯ti Haunui-a-Pa¯pa¯rangi iwi.
Jula “Sugar” Teki greets us and gives us keys to explore the three wharenui named Hikurangi Wharerata, Poutama and Te Waiherehere and the beautiful, historic weatherboard church.
We push on and make our next stop at Matahiwi Gallery and Cafe where we are noisily greeted by a piglet named Winston.
The premises are the former site of another school that has been lovingly repurposed as a cafe, art gallery, and camping grounds with renovated Army huts as accommodation.
The last time I travelled the River Rd I was in the driver’s seat and didn’t get to enjoy the full majesty of Whanganui National Park. With Tracey driving, I can take in the unique beauty of one of the largest remaining lowland forest areas in the North Island.
At Hiruha¯rama — Jerusalem, Tracey surprises Bevan and me with some nice, hot plunger coffee and scones baked by her partner Linda.
The Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, also known as Sisters of Compassion, have left the convent, established at Hiruha¯ rama by French nun Suzanne Aubert in 1885, and moved to the order’s headquarters in Wellington.
Self-catering accommodation is available for travellers at Jerusalem and can be booked via the Sisters of Compassion website. Bevan and I are expected in Ohakune and Tracey has more mail to deliver so we push on to Pipiriki where she bids us farewell.
Whanganui Tours and Mail Run also offers a round-trip service and packages tailored to travellers’ needs. Visit whanganuitours.co.nz to find out more.
The Whanganui Chronicle thanks Visit Ruapehu for its sponsorship.