Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NZ's contemporary tourism leviathan was seeded here. Internationally advertised trips on
the 'Rhine of Maoriland' became so popular that by 1905, 12,000 tourists a year were mak-
ing the trip upriver from Whanganui to Pipiriki or downriver from Taumarunui, on a fleet of
12 riverboats. The engineering feats and skippering ability required on the river became le-
gendary.
From 1918 land upstream of Pipiriki was granted to returning WWI soldiers. Farming
here was a major challenge, with many families struggling for years to make the rugged
land productive. Only a few endured into the early 1940s. The completion of the railway
from Auckland to Wellington and the improving roads ultimately signed the river transport's
death warrant; 1959 saw the last commercial riverboat voyage. Today, just one old-fleet ves-
sel cruises the river - the
Waimarie
.
In 1912 the Whanganui River Trust was established, and by 1980 it covered an area of
350 sq km. A national-park assessment began in 1980 and Whanganui National Park, the
country's 11th national park, was gazetted in 1986.
Environment
The hilly Whanganui lowlands are marked by myriad streams cutting between flat-topped
ridges carpeted in thick native forest.
The park contains extensive stands of podocarp-hardwood lowland forest, an ecosystem
under-represented in the NZ conservation estate. Kamahi and tawa are a common canopy
species, while the understorey is rich in ferns. Large podocarps include rimu, miro and
totara on ridges and faces, while kahikatea and matai predominate in the river terraces and
flats, as does the unmistakable nikau palm. Large northern rata throughout the park put on a
spectacular display in mid-summer, and there are also various species of beech. Steep ri-
verbanks are a haven for some of the park's more vulnerable plants, such as hutu, fuchsia
and the rare daisy
Brachiglottis turneri
.
The park's isolated centre, in particular, is a notable haven for bird life. Common species
that can be seen include fantails, grey warblers, silvereyes, tomtits, robins, bellbirds, kereru,
tui and whitehead. Migratory cuckoos are heard in spring and early summer. You may be
lucky enough to see kakariki or kaka along the Matemateaonga Track, and perhaps also the
rifleman and NZ falcon. The park is home to the largest population of North Island brown
kiwi, with several thousand birds present. The whio (blue duck) inhabits the clean fast-flow-
ing river habitats in the park, with the most significant populations on rivers bordering the
park.
