The first New Zealander that I met as a child in South Africa was a teacher from Whanganui (or Wanganui, as it was then spelt). Strangely, it has been the last city in New Zealand that I have visited with the stop on our North Island road trip being our first visit in 28 years of living here. It’s not really on the way to anywhere unless you’re travelling from Wellington to New Plymouth which was never a route we had needed to follow. It is a pity it took so long as it it is a lovely place to visit with the river, fantastic old buildings and parks.

Unfortunately I was unwell with a presumed virus that I must have encountered in Wellington and was feverish, aching, nauseous and extremely fatigued by the time we had walked around Bushy Park and returned to Whanganui. It didn’t make for the ideal circumstances to explore the centre of the city but we managed to explore a bit and I found the city a great place to wander with the Fuji X100s and can imagine happily spending a few days exploring further as there are many exciting photographic subjects.

The architecture is especially interesting with numerous heritage buildings of Victorian, Edwardian and more recent vintage. The city has a unique feel with a tangible civic pride rooted in its long history and association with the river.

A good night’s sleep had me feeling a lot more normal so the following morning we explored the Farmer’s Market and picked up some delicious pears and baked goods before pushing on to Patea and New Plymouth. Bushy Park and Whanganui have shown themselves to be worthy destinations in themselves and will see us return to explore some more.

All photos with the Fuji X100s. RAW files processed through Lightroom CC and then B&W conversions with Macphun Tonality plugin in Photoshop CC.