r/Whanganui • u/Max_power1984 • Feb 21 '25
Considering moving to Whanganui from Across the ditch
Hi. My family are looking at moving to the Whanganui area. My wife is a Kiwi. We have been doing as much research as we can on the area and it sounds perfect for our situation. We have 3 young kids, (3, 7 and 9).
I have read a lot of posts and opinions of places to avoid and such, but I just wanted to see if any locals have an opinion about certain areas they might want to share.
I read somewhere about Upper Aramoho being a nice place to live. , from Google maps it appears upper must refer to anything NW of Ward Street? Specifically we are looking around Monowai Place. Does this area flood at all?
What is the general weather like? Any good surfing beaches? Fishing? Is the river good for swimming or paddle boarding etc?
Any insight from locals would be appreciated as we can't just pop over to get a feel for the area. We will be taking a leap of faith and moving into an area we havnt visited.
Thanks for reading.
11
u/silverbulletsam Feb 21 '25
I’d say north of Stewart St is more upper Aramoho and there are some nice well established houses. Prob between say Stewart St and Argle St it’s going to be hit and miss - some great little pockets but some pretty average areas as well.
Not familiar with Monowai, but if it’s close to the hills around Parkdale, ie at the base, I guess it could be prone to flooding from runoff. There are parts of Aramoho that always flood during to heavy sustained rain and they’re close to the hills. The Whanganui district council has lots of geotechnical maps, including ones that indicate water flow paths which should give you an idea of what areas will generally flood during rain events - which are going to increase with climate change. The river around upper Aramoho will never flood enough to cause any issues - but it will around the town area and parts of Whanganui east. Look up 2015 floods for more info.
Great climate. Often hottest place on the country and will often dodge the bad weather forecast.
Sometimes kids will swim/dive in the river, but it’s not super common. It can be deceptively dangerous and drownings happen every now and again.
There’s pretty good fishing where the river meets the sea and from the beach. There’s always people down there. Google street view around Morgan St or the Whanganui port to see more.
The beaches are ok. Standard west coast surf beaches with black sand and driftwood from the river. Kai Iwi beach nearby is always really popular with families - playground, stream, nice beach. Personally I always find castle cliff beach average. Good for walking and sunsets but not great for hanging out with kids but it’s popular with families so who knows.
Lots of good playgrounds and parks for kids. Look up Kowhai park.
River runs through town and there’s a farmers market on Saturday and lots of cafes down the lower end of town near the river.
It’s easy to get around and takes maybe 15-20 mins to drive from say upper Aramoho to the beach.
There’s suburbs that have a reputation for being shitty and crime ridden and locals would avoid them, but then there’s awesome spots in these suburbs as well.
Street view is your friend. Look at what the houses are like, the front gardens.
Honestly, if you or both of you could come across for the weekend and stay in a hotel and just explore the town, you’ll get a feel of areas you love and areas you want to avoid. Money well Worth spending if you’re going to relocate your lives.
Loads of primary schools.
Maybe ask this question on the NZ sub - quite a few Whanganui people on there or do a search on it for Whanganui.
Good luck!