How well do you know our district?
1. What were the early names of two adjacent suburbs along the river's edge at the foot of Durie Hill?
2. When was the last time the old Town Bridge's swing span opened for a vessel to go through?
3. There exists a survey plan of the township of Bulkely or Baulkley in which rural area close to Whanganui?
4. What name is shared by a former curator of the Whanganui Regional Museum and an inept secret agent in a popular US TV comedy series?
5. What year was a fountain erected in recognition of the many services rendered to the town by William Hogg Watt?
6. What was christened The Star of Wanganui in 1869?
7. Ranana on the Whanganui River was originally known as what?
8. What is the hall at Ranana called?
9. Which Labour MP for Whanganui served longer — Russell Marshall or Jill Pettis?
10. What was the name of the flour mill established at Pipiriki in 1854?
Quiz Answers
1. Campbelltown and Taylorville.
2. In 1902. The vessel Huia went up the river with a cargo of heavy bridge materials for the repair and strengthening of the Aramoho railway bridge.
3. Okoia Valley.
4. Maxwell Smart. In the TV show Smart, aka Agent 86, works for CONTROL, a Washington, DC-based counterintelligence agency. He can barely use the gadgetry the agency provides him (including a phone embedded in his shoe).
5. 1881. The fountain stands at the intersection of Victoria Ave and Ridgway St.
6. The fire brigade's new horse-drawn, manually operated water pump. A second pump was christened The Meteor.
7. Kauika. It was renamed Ranana by the missionary Richard Taylor in 1856, Maori for London.
8. The Ruaka Hall.
9. Russell Marshall (1972-1990) served longer than Jill Pettis (1993-2005).
10. Kaukore.
Six correct — good; 8 — very good; 10 — genius!
Quiz compiled by David Scoullar
