Whanganui Summer Programme draws to close with riverboat trip to Whanganui's Hipango Park

Sarah Corlett and Warren Clark stand ready for a boat trip to Hipango Park. At rear is Wigs Arathoon. Photo / Laurel Stowell

It was mainly the cruise up and down the Whanganui River that passengers Warren Clark and Sarah Corlett were looking forward to as they boarded the MV Wairua.

The two live in Whanganui and have taken a river trip on the paddlesteamer Waimaria. They had never been aboard the Wairua, and never been to Hipango Park.

They made the trip on January 30, as part of the Whanganui Summer Programme, and had no specific plans for what to do on arrival.

"We'll have lunch and muck around, have a cruisy day. The ride on the boat is the main thing for us," Clark said.

They were among 21 boarding the boat for its 10am departure.

Skipper Sam Mordey said the park was gifted to the citizens of Whanganui in 1913 by Waata Wiremu Hipango.

He's taken a group there every year in the summer programme, and also does monthly trips in summer.

The park has a wharf, which needs repair, and a shelter, toilets and barbecues.

Mordey gives commentary on the 30km trip upriver, and can also take passengers on a short bush walk at the park, where there was once a pā.

People sometimes swim from the wharf or riverbank, if conditions are right.

Otherwise, the day is self-directed for passengers.

"It's very much a time for people to just enjoy being outdoors with friends and family," Mordey said.