Just off the Whanganui River Rd near Matahiwi is the restored 1854 Kawana Flour Mill and waterwheel – an exercise in optimism. There's historical info, a drop toilet if you're desperate and stairs down to a dank dell stream lookout.
Kawana Flour Mill
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.7 MILES
Spend an hour or two in one of NZ’s better natural history museums. Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārange Māori exhibits include an amazing waka (canoe), …
23.83 MILES
The elegant old neoclassical Sarjeant Gallery building in Queens Park is closed for earthquake-proofing. In the interim, the gallery's estimable art…
23.77 MILES
The pick of Whanganui's many glass studios. Watch glass-blowers working, check out the gallery, take a one-day glass-blowing course ($290, four people max…
22.93 MILES
For some peaceful moments away from the mountains, consider a walk to this bush-smothered lake, the centrepiece of the Lake Rotokura Ecological Reserve,…
28.92 MILES
At the southern end of the town, in a large, almost-Stalinist concrete castle, is the National Army Museum. Proclaimed as ‘history without the boring bits…
23.9 MILES
Across City Bridge from downtown Whanganui, this elevator was built with grand visions for Durie Hill’s residential future. Beyond an entrance lined with…
24.39 MILES
With no roads on either side, you don't need to be a genius to decipher this bridge's name. Originally built so that horses could cross the river to…
23.71 MILES
The historical displays here are interesting, but everyone's here for the PS Waimarie, the last of the Whanganui River paddle steamers. In 1900 it was…
Nearby attractions
4.17 MILES
Unless there's a function happening, you can wander around Koriniti Marae and the little white-painted Koriniti chapel, between the Whanganui River Rd and…
4.35 MILES
An archaeological site just off the Whanganui River Rd: what was once the centre of somewhere is now the middle of nowhere.
4.78 MILES
Around a corner in the Whanganui River Rd in Jerusalem, the picture-perfect, red-and-mustard spire of St Joseph’s Church stands tall on a spur of land…
16.06 MILES
From Aramoana Hill, near the southern end of the Whanganui River Rd, there’s a terrific view: peaks, paddocks, poplars and the curling river.
18.24 MILES
Maybe not so much 'Don't Miss' as 'Impossible to Miss', this roadside tribute to Ōhakune's biggest crop was erected in 1984. Carrots were first grown in…
22.56 MILES
Set 11km from Whanganui centre (pair it with a trip to Kai Iwi Beach), these gardens spread over 25 hectares and feature orchids, tropical plants,…
22.88 MILES
A couple of kilometres northwest of the centre, Virginia Lake is the perfect place for a stroll (around the lake or the woodland walk). Aside from the…
22.93 MILES
For some peaceful moments away from the mountains, consider a walk to this bush-smothered lake, the centrepiece of the Lake Rotokura Ecological Reserve,…