Taranaki & Whanganui - New Zealand - page 385

acceptable, and that adopting the querulous 'h' is up to individual businesses or
entities. A good old Kiwi compromise! Whanderful…
Whanganui Literary Festival CULTURAL
( www.facebook.com/whanganuiliteraryfestival ) Thoughts, words, and thoughts about words.
Every second September (odd-numbered years).
Cemetery Circuit Motorcycle Race SPORTS
( www.cemeterycircuit.co.nz ) Pandemonic motorcycle race around Whanganui's city streets
on Boxing Day. The southern hemisphere's version of the Isle of Man TT?
Sleeping
Anndion Lodge HOSTEL $
( 06-343 3593, 0800 343 056; www.anndionlodge.co.nz; 143 Anzac Pde; s/d/f/ste from $75/88/
105/135; ) Hell-bent on constantly improving and expanding their fabulous
hyper-hostel, hosts Ann and Dion (Anndion, get it?) go to enormous lengths to make
things homey: stereo systems, big TVs, spa, swimming pool, barbecue area, restaurant,
bar, courtesy van etc. 'No is not in our vocabulary', says super-helpful Ann.
Tamara Backpackers Lodge HOSTEL $
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( 06-347 6300; www.tamaralodge.com ; 24 Somme Pde; dm/s from $28/53, d & tw with/without
bathroom $84/70; ) Tamara is a photogenic, maze-like, two-storey heritage house
with a wide balcony, lofty ceilings (people weren't taller in 1904 were they?), kitchen,
TV lounge, free bikes and a leafy, hammock-hung back garden. Ask for one of the beaut
doubles overlooking the river.
Braemar House YHA HOSTEL $
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( 06-348 2301; www.braemarhouse.co.nz ; 2 Plymouth St; dm/s/d/tw $30/50/75/75, f $96-130,
guesthouse incl breakfast s/d $95/130; ) Riverside Braemar brings together an 1895
Victorian B&B guesthouse and a reliable YHA backpackers. Centrally heated guesthouse
rooms are floral and fancy; airy dorms conjure up a bit more fun out the back. Chooks
patrol the back yard.