Second spin on River Road tour

After a gap of several years, Wanganui's Rory Smith is reviving and expanding a tour business he began in 2004.

Called Whanganui River Road Tours, the operation has been rebranded and revised to include cycling options and customised tours of Wanganui and its surrounding areas.

It's a sideline to Mr Smith's Tamara Backpackers Lodge, in Somme Pde.

His first attempt at the tour business, in 2004, included there-and-back trips to Pipiriki on the Whanganui River Road in a comfortable minibus.

The business lapsed during the 2007 economic downturn, and the vehicle was sold.

Inspired by the new Ruapehu-Whanganui Cycle Trails, Mr Smith has now purchased a new nine-seater minibus and can hire bicycles from Doug Rennie at The Bike Shed.

He's offering the standard Whanganui River Road tour to Pipiriki and back, with an option for travellers to have 10 minutes to four hours cycling during the day.

Bicycles are carried in a trailer and passengers can be picked up again when they've had enough pedalling.

The tours are available only for four or more people, and will work with other operators. Customers can decide to return on the MV Wairua riverboat or with another jetboat operator, or they can spend the night at one of several Whanganui River Road accommodation places.

The jetboat operators can also be enlisted to take trampers to the start of the Matemateaonga Track.

Mr Smith may need relief staff for the tours, and he says he has the ideal person on hand: Noel Petherick, a former Whanganui River Road mailman who knows the area well.

The city and district tours will cost a flat rate of $100 an hour and be tailored to customers' interests. They can take in Paloma Gardens and the Bason Botanic Gardens, as well as art galleries.

For more information, see www.whanganuiriverroad.com.