his region stretches from around Patea in the north to near Paekakariki in the south and is bordered along its eastern limits by forests and forested ranges. It is dominated by three large rivers: the Rangitikei, the Manawatu and the Wanganui. These rivers, and their riverine valleys and swampy hinterlands, were of major importance to the Maori because of their rich resources and for the role they played in myth and tradition.

The area was heavily populated when the Pakeha arrived. In 1843 the missionary Richard Taylor counted over a hundred canoes beached for one hui, or gathering, along a remote upper tributary of the Wanganui.

But with the Pakeha arrived much more lethal forms of warfare than the Maori had previously known. Huge areas of land were soon depopulated by gun-toting taua, or war parties. But if the warfare was disastrous then the diseases that arrived with the Pakeha were catastrophic. 'Men did not die singly, but in tens and twenties and thirties,' a Wanganui survivor mourned. 'Day by day and day by day they died.' Even today, as a direct consequence of these two scourges, much of the land lies largely deserted.

Evidence of once-widespread settlement can still be seen in places. One example is the karaka groves, planted for their berries, still growing beside the 200 or so rapids along the navigable length of the Wanganui, some 210 kilometres.

The Wanganui River is the second-longest river in the North Island (after the Waikato River) and alongside it runs the main Highway through the Whanganui National Park. It rises in the Matemateaonga Range to the west of Mt Tongariro, and follows a south-westerly curve for some 290 kilometres before reaching the Tasman Sea at Wanganui City. Allowing easy access to the central North Island, it was of great importance to the original people of the river, the Te Atihau Nui a Papa Rangi. The missionaries were quick to capitalise on this and they built many mission stations along the river, often with rather quaint Maori names translated directly from European originals- Hiruharama (Jerusalem), Ranana (London), Koriniti (Corinth) and Atene (Athens). Today stands of exotic trees such as poplars and willows, together with a few lonely gravestones, are often all that remain of most of these settlements. The poet James K. Baxter established a commune at Jerusalem and is now buried behind the church there.

Considerable numbers of native birds live along the river. A patient observer can almost always see tui, kereru, bellbirds, pied tits, robins and occasionally whiteheads. At night, too, around areas such as Whakahoro and Retaruke you are almost sure to hear moreporks. Listen for kiwi as well. Also a recent bird immigrant, the Nankeen Night Heron, first nested near here in 1993/94.

There have been a number of reports of piopio surviving in the bush backing onto Retaruke so keep a good look out - you would make history if you found one. Native bats are also sometimes to be seen here and among the more interesting exotics along the Wanganui are feral peafowl and guinea fowl. Look for them in scrubby areas or along the edges of the forest, and particularly along the Tokomaru East River.

The completion of the main trunk railway early this century opened the region to settlers, who cleared the forest in the catchment area of the river. This led to heavy flooding, with rises in the river level of up to 20 metres being recorded in the narrow gorges. Now the Wanganui River has sustained further damage from the headwaters being diverted into the Tongariro Power Scheme in 1972. At times the river level has dropped so far that it has been difficult to navigate by boat. Fish and eels have died when the waters disappeared or the temperatures rose, and birds have left to find their homes in waters elsewhere. Along the main river the blue duck has had much of its habitat destroyed and is now very rare.

One of the Wanganui’s major tributaries, the Manganui-o-te-Ao, has a brighter outlook. With the Motu, this river supports one of the two viable populations of blue duck in the North Island. However the Manganui-o-te-Ao is a popular river with whitewater rafters and it was found that the duck was being disturbed during its nesting season. Fortunately, Department of Conservation officials and rafting companies are now co-operating to, minimise the disturbance to the birds.

The head-waters of the Wanganui together with parts of the surrounding forest were gazetted as a national park in November 1986, and it is hoped that some of the fine stands of forest nearby, particularly those in Taranaki might be added to the park as well.