Wanganui

Wanga=big, nui=harbor. I learned that on a tour of the Whanganui River Rd. That wasn't a typo. The town is called Wanganui, but the river and most things associated with it are called Whanganui, which is the more typical Maori spelling and there are attempts to make it the universal spelling for all things associated with the town.

Wanganui is not a terribly big town. There is a main stree that has all of the shops, cafes, a few bars, and eateries, and outside of this street there isn't a whole lot going on. One reason this town appealed to me is that I knew I wouldn't be overly tempted to spend money while I'm working here trying to save up, and I was right. I haven't seen or heard of much nightlife, but then again I've only been out past 9pm once since that first night so I'm hardly an expert.

This is a heritage-based town with a relatively strong Maori history, so two of the main attractions are the Wanganui Regional Museum and the Art Gallery, both of which feature exhibits about the history of the town and its people, so at least it's something different than what you'd see elsewhere in the country.

I also discovered after arriving that the nearby track in Cooks Gardens (about 10 minute walk from my lodge) is where Peter Snell set the mile world record back in whatever year he did that.

As a perk of my job, I got to do a few tours up the Whanganui River for free, ostensibly to learn about it so I can recommend it to the guests at the lodge. First was the mail tour, which means you ride up the Whanganui River Rd. with the mailman as he delivers the mail. Seriously. The River Rd is a narrow windy road leading past a bunch of farms and some Maori villages and such, so the mailman points out interesting historical sites and stories along the way. Plus the view is absolutely beautiful. The next free tour was the Bridge to Nowhere package. After WWII some soldiers were given land to farm, but apparently the land was largely unfarmable. Before they figured that out they had built a bridge to connect the area to a more populated region, but then the farmers gradually evacuated leaving a bridge seemingly in the middle of nowhere with no roads on either side of it. So we took a jetboat up the river, again with stops for stories and interesting landmarks, hiked to the bridge for lunch, and had a mini-canoe trip back to the start, including a few mild rapids and beautiful scenery once again.

Last Friday was Waitangi Day. Back in some year or other after the Europeans had invaded the land and had trouble with the indigenous Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed to signify peace between the groups, so this is one of the more widely celebrated national holidays. The celebration in Wanganui was modest, with a few bands playing, some Maori songs and dances, various stands selling cheap food and souvenirs, and apparently some wakas riding around the river. A waka is an extremely long canoe-like structure paddled by a ton of Maori. This is also where I first met Rab. After my incident one of the calls I received was from some guy named Rab, who I was naturally skeptical of at first and for various reasons had not yet met up with, but he spotted me at the fair. He's a veteran of world travel, is a chain-smoker, and explained to me why he wants to become an anarchist. A bit off-putting perhaps, but all things considered he's a friendly and considerate guy and I appreciated him making the effort to help me out.

Next time, a step-by-step guide to working at a backpackers lodge, plus I'll introduce you to some of the more memorable guests.