OUR SETTLEMENTS

A drive along the river road is a step back in time revealing the heritage of local iwi, remnants of early European settlement and many historical landmarks and features.

These rural settlements along the 64km road include Pungarehu, Parikino, Ātene, Koriniti, Matahiwi, Rānana, Jerusalem and Pipiriki.

There is a sprinkling of isolated homesteads in between each.

This one stretch of road provides a means of travel to and from the outlying metropolitan areas of Raetihi to the north and the city Whanganui to the south.

Taking over 30 years to construct, this scenic and adventurous road journey was opened in 1934. Before the 1930s almost all access to this remote area was via riverboat. At the northern end the road starts at Raetihi and winds westward for 27kms to Pipiriki. It then follows the river and meanders down toward its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. It is here that the city of Whanganui was formed due to its coastal location.

For more information please contact our friendly kaimahi hapori – Ramari Te Uamairangi at ramari@tclt.co.nz, Isobel Keating at isobel@tclt.co.nz or Andrea Kani at andrea@tclt.co.nz.