Wanganui

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Rivers, parks and playgrounds |  Family activities  |  Services

Wanganui has a long history surrounding its river, Whanganui, and is often over looked as a holiday destination. However the region gives a large variety of family-friendly activities for all age groups.

Rivers, parks and playgrounds

Kowhai Park Children’s Playground

Kowhai Park Children's Playground is a great place to take children. It has free gas-operated bar-b-ques for public use. This is a wonderful playground with room for everyone to run round and have fun.

Virginia Lake

The beautiful lake and gardens of  Virginia Lake are a must see at Wanganui. Take the opportunity to take the children for a walk and feed the ducks or they can play in the playground. Other attractions at the Lake include the Winter Gardens and a bird aviary. Virginia Lake is located on Great North Road on St. John's Hill. Take the road that continues into State Highway three to New Plymouth.

Whanganui River

If your family has planned to spend a few days in the area then take the time to visit the Whanganui River. If you have older children then kayaking the river is an adventure not to be missed. Trips can be any where from a one day to a six day guided tour. The river has a number of rapids and so this would suit families who children have already done some experience kayaking and normal safety guidelines should be followed at all time.

Durie Hill Tower         

Something different to do while in Wanganui is a visit to Durie Hill Tower, at the top of hill you will get great views over the city and the surrounding area. To get to the historical Durie Hill Elevator you will need to take the Durie Hill pedestrian tunnel, which is located opposite the Whanganui City Bridge. You can choose to either ride the elevator or climb up around 190 steps to get to the top. This is quite a fun thing to do with any child that loves cable cars. The Durie Hill Elevator is the only earth-bound elevator in New Zealand and was built in 1919.

Queen Park

Queens Park is located a couple of streets from the main street of Vicotira Ave, in central Wanganui. This is a lovely park to take a picnic to and let the children stretch their legs. The park is also the home of the Sarjeant Gallery – an world-renown art gallery - and the Wanganui Regional Museum.

Bason Botanic Gardens

Bason Botanic Gardens were once part of a farm which was gifted to Wanganui in 1996 by the Bason family. Your family will enjoy the many walking trails that lead around the gardens and the original homestead.

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Atene Viewpoint Walk

This is an easy to moderate walk, taking around 2 hours to do the return trip. This drive is approximately 40 minutes from Wanganui and starts at Atene on the Whanganui River Road. The Whanganui River Road is very windy and parents should drive at a sensible speed to avoid children getting car sick.  

You will find a toilet on the walk, but the picnic area is a 20 minute walk along the track – which means you will have to carry what ever you are going to eat with you for some distance.  

Bridge to Nowhere

Stuck in the middle of nowhere is a bridge which has no roads leading to or from it, which is why it is called the Bridge to Nowhere! There are several ways to get to the bridge, tour guides can take you by boat to the bridge or you can walk there. We have only included the gentle 40 minute walk, one way, from the Mangapurua Landing on the Whanganui River, as the other walk is a two day tramp from Whakahoro Hut. The walk from Mangapurua Landing is an easy to moderate walk and is suitable for children who can walk for around two hours.

For parents with older you may want to extend this walk to a 40km, 3 to 4 day tramp then include the Mangapuru/Kaiwhakauka Track which continues on from the Bridge to Nowhere. This is an easy to moderate tramp and suitable for children who are fit. Note: There is only one hut on the track, so tenting will mostly likely be your form of accommodation each night!

Te Maire Loop Track

The Te Maire Loop Track has been designed with families in mind and has a suspension bridge at the beginning of the track. It’s an easy two-hour return trip and is well sign posted. You will find the track on Te Maire Valley Road which is approximately 12km south of Taumarunui Hospital and across the bridge and follow Paparoa Road until it joins up with Te Maire Valley Road.

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There are two main beaches in the area Castlecliff Beach and Kai Iwi (Mowhanau) Beach. Castlecliff Beach is a popular swimming beach and is patrolled by lifeguards over the summer. Kai Iwi Beach is around 14km from Wanganui along Rapanui Road and has a children’s playground and barbecue areas available.

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Family activities

There are a lot of things to do in Wanganui for families, the parks are great, the river has a range of activities suiting most families idea of fun! These include cruising, kayaking, jet boating and tramping the Whanganui River.

Wanganui has two public swimming pools, the Splash Centre and Wanganui East pool. The Splash Centre (Ph: 06 349 0113), on London Street is an indoor heated swimming pool which is open year round. The new extension to the pool makes it a really family pool with a hydro slide and toddler pool being added to the complex! Wanganui East pool (Ph: 06 343 6650) is an heated outdoor pool that is open for 20 weeks of the year, normally starting Labour weekend and is a great family pool with hydro slides and a toddlers pool.

Whanganui Regional Museum

Queens Park, Watt Street, Phone +64 6 349 1110 www.wanganui-museum.org.nz

The museum has two areas dedicated for children activities within the Whanganui Regional Museum. The Paua Table (Front of House) and Nga Manu Gallery. Both have drawing activities, books, building blocks, jigsaw puzzles and other board puzzles for children to play with. Both the female and male toilets have changing tables in them!

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Services

The i-Site located at 101 Guyton St in Wanganui is the agent for various transport companies, including the Tranzscenic trains, InterCity and Newmans Coaches. You can also book various tourist activities here, including cruises on the PS Waimarie, Wanganui’s historic paddle steamer.

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