Whanganui or Wanganui?

After much discussion over many years, either spelling is correct. The pronunciation is another story. “Wh” in Maori is usually pronounced as an “f”, but not always, and I have trouble with the double vowels (and also the triple vowels) - I just can’t make those sounds, at least not at this point. So I sort of slur out W(ah)ng a noo ee and it seems acceptable.

We had two short visits in Whanganui, a town of about 40,000 on the Whanganui River and an hour from Palmy. There was an attempt to settle the inland area of the river and make it suitable for farming. A bridge was built to access this land, but the environment was too harsh and the land was abandoned. The Bridge to Nowhere remains and is a popular, but hard to reach tourist attraction, and the river is now mainly used for recreation.  We have not yet been to The Bridge to Nowhere, but it is on our list. (Of course, the Maori were already here and thriving in the area before it was "settled" but that is another blog.)

We were given a key to St. Paul's Anglican Church decorated with Maori carvings and inside we found a lovely, worshipful space.

 



 We walked through the 213 meter tunnel to the 1919 elevator that took us to the top of Durie Hill where we climbed two towers for a nice view of Whanganui.

 

The Whanganui River flowing into the Tasman Sea

Taking a break after the hour climb to the Atene lookout. The view was nice, but less spectacular than others we have seen.