Wanganui

Overview

Wanganui (population 40,000) is a small city on the west coast of the North Island, near the mouth of the Whanganui river.

Wanganui is the seat of the Wanganui District Council, overseeing the Wanganui district. It was founded in 1840 as Petre, but later took the name of the river that flows through the city. The river, district and national park are all named Whanganui, but the city and the district do not have the 'h'.

Wanganui is 2 1/2 hours drive from Wellington , 2 hours from New Plymouth , and 2 1/2 hours from Hawkes Bay . There are regular flights to Auckland and Nelson , with connections throughout the country. There is no passenger rail service to Wanganui, but the daily service between Auckland and Wellington stops in Marton, 20 minutes east of Wanganui.

A small fleet of mini-buses provide transport around the city and suburbs, with all services passing through the Maria Place interchange in the centre of the city. Services run from 7am to 6pm.

Wanganui has a number of quality sports venues, and hosts the New Zealand Masters Games every two years. Cooks Gardens, in the centre of town, has a purpose built athletics track and velodrome, and was the venue of Peter Snell's world record mile time, though the grass track on which he set it was destroyed during modernisation in the 1990s.

Suburbs: Wanganui East, Bastia Hill, Durie Hill, Putiki, Gonville, Castlecliff, Springvale, St John's Hill, Aramoho, Papaiti

History