Showing posts with label Whanganui. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whanganui. Show all posts

Day 09: Things to do in Whanganui, New Zealand (Part 2)

..so we left Durie Hill and onwards to our next destination. 


Another recommendation by the folks from i-Site was Bushy Park Sanctuary, located slightly off Whanganui. It's a "245 acre remnant of some of New Zealand's finest lowland native rain forest". A great place to enjoy the flora and fauna that we probably won't get to see back in Singapore. What attracted us to there is the thousand year old tree! How often you get the chance to see that?! Entrance fee was at NZ$6.00 per person, redeemable with a bottle of Tui Beer each. Not sure if they have adjusted the entrance fee since 2013. 


The view that greeted us right after we drove in.. looks kinda like the kind of woods that will appear in our Disney's fairytales. 

"To open gates press button and drive to the next gate which will not open until the gate behind you has closed."

..and finally we were out of the woods! 

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The legendary silver fern, the icon of New Zealand. 

There is a captivating Maori legend behind the silver fern. It was said that the silver fern once lived in the sea but it was asked to come and live in the forest to play the important role of guiding the marry people. Maori hunters and warriors would use the silver underside of the fern leaves to find their way home. When bent over, the fronds would catch the moonlight and illuminate a path through the forest. (Source: New Zealand Tourism)

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Here's the thousands-year-old tree! It's known to be the largest Rata tree in the world.  

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..and after a short walk in the New Zealand bush, we left Bushy Park in the late afternoon. 


Meh meh sheep are not an unusual sight in New Zealand. You literally see them everywhere! No kidding. This curious me to find out how many meh meh are there exactly in the country. My findings? Apparently, sheep farming is a huge part of the country. According of Statistic of New Zealand (2012), the highest number of sheep was back in 1982 with a total of 70.3 million sheep with a population of 3.18 million people. The latest figure released by the Statistics of New Zealand is 29.8 million sheep (June 2014).
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Spotted Mount Taranaki (also known as Mount Egmont) along the way. Some interesting facts that I gathered about Mount Taranaki:
  • The 2518m high mountain is a dormant volcano.
  • Experienced trampers are welcome to challenge the summit track.
  • "Mt Taranaki has great spiritual significance to local Maori: the crater and summit is the sacred head of Taranaki, the rocks and ridge are his bones, rivers hid blood and plants and trees are his cloak and offer protection from the weather." (Department of Conservation of New Zealand)
  • Mount Taranaki provided the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai due to its resemblance to Mount Fuji
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And after hours of drive.. 


 Stopped by at PakNSave New Plymouth for one of my favourite activities - groceries shopping!! 


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Ending the post with the dinner for the night, mussels penne soup with grilled salmon and NZ$5.50 Tui Beer. 
  
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Overview of the driving route of Day 9! 
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Information you might be interested in:

 Bushy Park Sanctuary
791 Rangitatau East Road,
Kai Iwi 4578, New Zealand
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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 

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