Day 09: Things to do in Whanganui, New Zealand (Part 1)

Woke up to this clear blue sky at Top 10 Whanganui River Holiday Park. Another awesome campervan site with full facilities (kitchen, laundry, showers etc) for a night. Spotless cleanliness, great view of the Whanganui River, friendly and helpful staff. 

The only complaint I've would be, it was a little pricey at NZ$44 per night for a campervan powered site and we didn't exactly have the time to enjoy the full facilities (we check-in pretty late the previous night). In case you are wondering, Top 10 is the brand of the holiday park, it's not exactly the "top 10" holiday park in Whanganui. Kind of misleading I must say. 


Tips: Holiday parks like this are usually crowded during the summer time as opposed to what you see in the photos when we were there. We went during their early winter thus explains the emptiness! 

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Random street shots of Whanganui.  

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Too lazy to make breakfast that day.. so the quest to try out all New Zealand's fast food continues. Burger King breakfast for Day 9! Loved their cute tiny hash-browns!! NZ$13.80 for our meal. 

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Whanganui wasn't one of the destination that we've researched on before our trip but I'm sure it isn't so for most people too! I know really nothing about the town but the host of the holiday park was really nice and introduced us to a few attractions that are worth visiting. I guess that should be the right way for tours on campervans. Stop by whichever town you feel like stopping and be surprise with what the new town have installed for you! 

So after our breakfast, we sort of consolidated the information we have for Whanganui at the i-Site Visitor Centre and concluded the itinerary of the day to be: Whanganui River > Durie Hill Elevator and Tower > Bushy Park > New Plymouth


Tips: Don't think I've mentioned about i-Site Visitor Centre before. It's one of the best thing in New Zealand. It's basically a visitor information centre in New Zealand. The first place we will go to whenever we reach a new town/ city and I strongly recommend you to do that! 

They are certainly not your ordinary information centre where they will provide you with a set of standard answers to any of your questions. The friendly staff will assist you in the planning of your itinerary to ensure you get the best #NZmustdo based on your interests and the duration you have in the particular town. Loved the sense of personal touch! All of them have been such a great help during our trip!

They are especially great help for activities are only best done at certain hours (e.g. low tide or sunset) or basically information that you can only know on the day of visit itself (e.g. weather or mountain safety information. In short, go to them for free maps, local information (events, attractions, restaurants), bookings (accommodation, transportation, activities, attractions). All at no additional costs! But at times, they do want to earn a little from the visitors, you can purchase souvenirs/ postcards from the visitor centres.


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The i-Site Visitor Centre of Whanganui is located just right beside the 290 km Whanganui River, New Zealand's third longest river. Finally a sunny day since the start of our adventure, definitely call for more photos! 

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Next up on the itinerary that is across the river is the Durie Hill Elevator View Point. The underground elevator is built back in 1919 and it's still used on a daily basis by the locals and visitors. The panoramic views of Whanganui awaits you on the top of the elevator's platform. We didn't take the elevator to go up to the hill but I found an interesting video here showing you how the tunnel and the elevator looks like. 


Panorama of Whanganui (Taken with iPhone 4S)

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Adjacent to the elevator is the Durie Hill War Memorial Tower that is built to honour the army that sacrifice their lives in World War 1.


..and after 176 steps up the tower is another perspective of Whanganui. 


TO BE CONTINUED...

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Information you might be interested in:

Whanganui Top 10 Holiday Park

460 Somme Parade,
Aramoho 4500, New Zealand 
http://www.wrivertop10.co.nz

Durie Hill Elevator View Point
Durie Hill 
Whanganui 4500, New Zealand