Wanganui - The little city with a big heart

As part of our Celebrating Wanganui series, Whanganui Regional Museum director Eric Dorfman reflects on the charms of his new home and its surrounds

As a newcomer, Whanganui is a place that grows on you gradually, opening up its nooks and crannies, as you uncover a diversity of experiences surprising for a town of 45,000.

First, there are the obvious things to love about it. For me, as I guess for many, the river is foremost of these. I was lucky enough to experience it by kayak one rainy Easter weekend almost 10 years ago, imagining moa walking along its tangled primordial banks and straining to see eels in the dark beckoning waters. A favourite photo is still a grainy shot of our damp and muddy party enjoying a well-deserved break on the Bridge to Nowhere.

I like the fact that Whanganui has supremely beautiful places within easy reach, where it's possible to be completely alone. A blustery morning walking up the beach at Castlecliff offers all the seclusion you could need for pondering life. A little drive offers up Whanganui National Park, with its opportunities for bushwalking.

Not that it's always about solitude. Since arriving here as a resident, my position as director of Whanganui Regional Museum has put me at the heart of a vibrant arts community, a collection of highly talented and productive people who, unsurprisingly, were not in evidence in my first foray to the area. Fortunately, the hugely popular Artists' Open Studios has taken care of that introduction, and the creative outpouring offers more to do in any week than it would be possible to pack in. There's also the bustling Saturday market, filled with a hubbub of friendly chatter, great food and craft, and somebody to say hello to wherever you look.

Somewhere in the middle of those two extremes are the waterside cafes, the weekend strolls around Virginia Lake, and even simply running errands in the vicinity of Victoria Ave and Ridgway St under the shade of midsummer plane trees. Whanganui has a pace here that is at once stimulating and peaceful.

The museum, of course, is one of my favourite places here. That's not simply because it's the job that brought me here and keeps me occupied, and not even because it's at the heart of the many friendships I'm forming. Two things truly make Whanganui Regional Museum a favourite place of mine. The first is the collections, which are truly world class. Being in an institution that is recognised nationally and internationally confers a sense of importance to my role here. The second and equally important reason is the people. Our hard-working staff and board members set the stage for a close bond with the community.

This bond allows us to care in partnership with the community, representing roots that extend back many hundreds of years.

This relationship has been responsible for some extraordinarily generous donations over the years, some of which are currently on display in our newest exhibition, Your Treasures.

These proactive contributions demonstrate that people feel genuinely that the museum is an integral part of Whanganui.

What makes Wanganui great?

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