Whanganui district quiz

What’s significant about Bess the war horse buried on a farm near Scott’s Ferry?

1. Which parliamentary electorate near Whanganui has five mayors and no traffic lights?

2. Name the Whanganui woman who has been appointed a High Court judge.

3. What special treat did Jean Darvill’s family give her on her recent 100th birthday?

4. Who was the founding chairman of the Friends of the Whanganui River in 1988?

5. Which former riverboat was displayed at Pipiriki for a number of years before being brought to Whanganui?

6. What’s the claim to fame of Bess the WWI war horse for which there is a memorial on a farm near Scott’s Ferry?

7. Who drove the first jet boat up the Whanganui River in 1957?

8. Who bought a twin jet-powered boat and became the first jet boat operator in the world licensed to carry passengers in 1958?

9. What happened to the Mangapurua Valley on December 6, 1986?

10. Who wrote The Wharves of Wanganui, a book that looked at the role of maritime commerce in establishing and growing our community?

Quiz Answers

1. Rangitīkei.

2. Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith. She was previously Whanganui’s Crown solicitor.

3. A flight in a light aircraft over Whanganui.

4. Arthur Bates.

5. MV Ongarue.

6. It was one of only four war horses to return to NZ after WWI.

7. Bill and Peggy Hamilton in a 4m flat bottom wooden craft powered by a Ford Consul motor through a centrifugal type Chinook jet unit. Travel time was nine hours over three days.

8. Cecil Davies.

9. Most of the valley was incorporated into the Whanganui National Park.

10. Bruce Attwell of Turakina Beach.

Six correct — good; 8 — very good; 10 — genius!