Pipiriki

Pipiriki is the gateway to the Whanganui National Park.

At Pipiriki there are DOC camping facilities and a DOC information centre. There too is the site of the luxury hotel that burned down, and a restored colonial cottage.

You can also see one of the old river boats used on the upper reaches of the river, the Ongarue. She is awaiting restoration and access is restricted but you can see how her design allowed her to cope with shallow water. Below the water line she has a single screw, protected in a tunnel. Extending from the stern are twin long rudders either side and, in the front, a winch to pull her up the worst rapids. In service, she had a draft of 12 inches, although she is 60 feet long and could carry 45 people at an average of 7.5 mph. She was designed for the upper reaches, from Pipiriki to the Houseboat and on to Taumarunui. Ongarue, the last of the riverboats, was launched in 1903 and operated until 1958.

Sylvia Ashton Warner wrote of her years here with her family in her autobiography 'Myself'. Two of her novels were listed in Time magazine’s top ten books of the year. She won the New Zealand Book Award for Non-Fiction in 1980 and her autobiography was subsequently made into a film, Sylvia!.