Wanganui is a small city of around 40,000 people at the mouth of the Whanganui River, on the west coast of the North Island. It was founded in 1840 as Petre but soon took the name of the river that flows through it. The spelling is a local point of pride: the river, district, and national park are all "Whanganui" with an 'h', but the city officially kept the older spelling without it.
What strikes you first is the heritage architecture. Wanganui has more intact Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings than most New Zealand cities its size, and the centre feels pleasantly time-warped. The Sarjeant Gallery, perched on a hill above Queens Park, is a striking neoclassical building with a strong collection of New Zealand art. Durie Hill, across the river, is worth the climb — or the elevator ride through the old tunnel — for panoramic views of the city, the river, and on a clear day, Mount Taranaki and Mount Ruapehu.
The city has reinvented itself as something of an arts town, attracting painters, glassblowers, and craftspeople drawn by cheap rents and good light. The riverfront is walkable, the Saturday market is lively, and Cooks Gardens in the centre of town has a velodrome and athletics track where Peter Snell once set a world record mile.
Wanganui is about two and a half hours' drive from Wellington and two hours from New Plymouth. There are regular flights to Auckland. The daily rail service between Auckland and Wellington stops in Marton, twenty minutes to the east.