Day 15 February 16th Wanganui exploring

Today was cloudy but dry when we eventually emerged and after breakfast we made our way down to the riverside where the Waimarie was to take us for a cruise inland.  We had a few minutes to spare and visited the associated museum which told the history of river travel and which obviously included the use of a Burroughs machine!  We were soon building up steam and smoke and were underway with the paddles turning pretty impressively.  The smuts caused some ladies some dismay (including Christine) because they landed on their pristine white clothing.  I hope you like lots of pictures because today there are several and its probably better than my writing.  


The river meandered its way upstream with the tide being fairly slack and we made good progress.  We were invited to the boiler room to watch operations which was very interesting.  The original steam engine was made by Yarrow shipbuilders in the UK but the restoration was completed locally by  following the original drawings and specifications.  We carried and passed a smaller steamship, the Wairua, which now services a hotel.  At this point of the trip they also released some homing pigeons which was the original method of getting messages back to Wanganui.  You will be pleased to know that our message was waiting when we returned to base.

One of the pigeons

The pigeons are released

We turned round and made the hour long journey back with the commentary explaining much of the local history.  We passed a New Zealand flame tree in full flower.

view from hilltop

After docking we had some lunch in a nearby restaurant and then decided to go up a lift through a hill on the opposite side of the river.  It was a very old setup and at the top we gained very good views of the city.

memorial tower

 There was also a memorial tower built after the first world war.  In our view Kenny was right and Wanganui as a city has much going for it.  Tomorrow we are off to the delights of Wellington.