Planes/ trains/ cycles/ waka.
Getting Here
Air
Wanganui Airport
Wanganui has a small airport that is 5 minutes drive or taxi drive from the center of town.
It is served by Air New Zealand from Auckland and Wellington as well as charter operators.
http://www.wanganuiairport.co.nz/
http://www.wanganuiairport.co.nz/operators/scheduled-services
The are 4 flights a day Sun -> Friday Auckland to Whanganui and 3 on Saturday
There is one flight to and from Wellington Monday -> Friday
The planes are 16 seaters and the cheap tickets go quickly and last minute fares are high so be sure to book as early as possible.
The Auckland flights give amazing views of the volcanoes on a clear day.
People flying internationally can purchase an add on ticket that is very reasonably priced if they are flying on air new zealand, star alliance or quantas long haul via auckland.
Air charters are available here http://www.airwanganui.co.nz
Palmerston North Airport
Palmerston North airport is 45 minutes drive from Wanganui. It is a larger airport than Wanganui and serves a range of national destinations, auckland, christchurch, wellington and hamilton with direct flights as well as the occasional international destination.
http://airnewzealand.com
http://www.pnairport.co.nz
As it is able to accommodate larger planes, fares to Palmerston North are much cheaper than to Wanganui in general.
Palmerston North Airport to Wanganui
Transport to and from Palmerston North is by car, bus or shuttle.
Taxi is expensive and more than the difference in price between a Palmerston North and Wanganui flight in general.
Palmerston North Taxis – 06 355 5333
$246 for a 10 seat shuttle bus
River City Cabs (Wanganui) – 0800 345 3333
$191 for 4 seater (~ $240 for 10)
By Bus.
Take the Airport shuttle to PN CBD cost $10-12 to Intercity Bus Station.
then take the Intercity to Wanganui.
Intercity – there are buses between PN and W – 3-4 times a day – price
ranges from $12 – 24 – here are the links for times/costs from Thursday -
Saturday, Bookings are here.
https://reservations.coachbookings.co.nz/book/palmerston_nth-wanganui/09-12-2010/1.html
https://reservations.coachbookings.co.nz/book/palmerston_nth-wanganui/10-12-2010/1.html
https://reservations.coachbookings.co.nz/book/palmerston_nth-wanganui/11-12-2010/1.html
Car
View Larger Map
From the north there are 2 main routes, either down SH4 from National park and through the Para Paras and the second down SH1. The SH4 route is windier, but shorter and quicker while the SH1 route is slightly straighter road.
From Wellington head north up SH1 and turn right at Sanson.
Approximate Journey Times are
- Auckland -> Wanganui 6hrs
- Wellington -> Wanganui 2hrs 45
- Hamilton -> Wanganui 4hrs 25
- Tauranga -> Wanganui 5hrs
- Napier -> Wanganui 3hrs 30
- New Plymouth -> Wanganui 2hrs 20
- Palmerston North -> Wanganui 1 hr
Car Pool
Don’t drive by yourself Car Pool.
http://www.jayride.co.nz
Bus
Wanganui coach station is within 5 minutes walk of central wanganui
It is served by bus services from most cities in the North Island through Intercity coach service, naked bus and white star.
http://intercity.co.nz
http://nakedbus.com/bus-timetables/
white star 0800 465622
Bus charters
Uzabus http://www.uzabus.co.nz/
Train
There is rail track in Whanganui but it is only used for freight trains.
The nearest passenger train station is at Marton. This is served by the overlander scenic train that goes daily from Auckland to Wellington.
http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/overlander.aspx
- Auckland 7.25am
- Marton 4.10pm
- Wellington 7.25pm
- Wellington 7.25am
- Marton 10.25am
- Auckland 7.25pm
Marton is 45 mins from Wanganui by car.
Tranzscenic also run a service from Wellington to Palmerston North called the Capital Connection
http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/capitalconnection_timetable.aspx
- Wellington 5.17pm
- Palmerston North 7.29pm
- Palmerston North 6.20am
- Wellington 8.21am
River
The Whanganui river comes down from Taumaranui and is navigable by waka.
Please contact us if you would like to arrange to arrive by waka. The journey times to wanganui without rest days are approximately:
- Taumaranui 9 days
- Whakahoro 7 days
- Pipirlki 5 days
Sea
Wanganui can be approached by Sea and has a wharf.
The sand bar in the harbour mouth makes it difficult for deep keeled boats.
There are no ferry services.
Bicycle
Whanganui is regularly visited by cyclists and is part of the forthcoming National cycle way project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Cycle_Trail
A favorite route starts in National park, via Raetihi, following the river road via pipirki.
Foot
Please let us know if you are planning to walk.
Fuel Efficiency Calculation
It might be nice to do some comparisons of energy usage for each transportation method. Here is a rough example of the turbo prop.
The turboprop Whanganui -> auckland flight uses approx 225 L of aviation fuel to transport 16 passengers and baggage.
A 6 l/100km car will do the same journey with 27 L
The flight is equivalent to approx 8 cars in fuel cost.
At full car and plane occupancy cars are more efficient than the plane.
At full plane occupancy and half car occupancy (2 passengers per car) efficiency is roughly equal
At full plane occupancy and solo car occupancy the plane is more efficient.
ada cloudland exhibition