During our two-week stay, "rock hunting" at the lake became a daily event and we also collected our own rocks and painted them and hid them for other kids to have this same experience.
Some of the rocks we found were artistically painted and one person had written "Whanganui rocks 2017" on their creations to distinguish them.
One month later I returned to NZ and took a walk around Virginia Lake, finding two more "Whanganui rocks" hidden among the trees.
I have lived and travelled in numerous places around the world but I always feel so proud to come back to my hometown. I was so happy to show my kids where I grew up and feel lucky that they got to share in the experience of finding these beautiful rocks in such a stunning location.
I want to say thank you to those artistic and fun-loving people who are making these little treasures - they are sharing a little part of their joy with so many children and they have shown my kids what a beautiful community and town I grew up in.
Wanganui really does rock!
AMY PEDERSEN, Australia
Use it or lose it
Well said Chronicle photographer and scribe Bevan Conley in Friday's editorial.
That standard response of "I only see the Chron online", especially from many newcomers to Whanganui, disturbs me because they don't seem to realise they're seeing only a selection of stories.
More importantly, they're missing the retail adverts, death notices, public notices etc from which we learn so much about our community.
While a print subscription doesn't suit my lifestyle, I have long subscribed to the digital version. For a modest monthly cost, it's delivered - in full and identical to the print issue - to my email inbox about 4am daily. I can read it on my laptop, tablet or even stay tucked up in bed and turn the pages on my smartphone.
As I've had many moves both in NZ and Australia, and have travelled widely, wherever I am I never lose touch with what's happening back home.
A few weeks ago I was staying in Wellington when two dear old friends died - even though I was unable to attend their funerals, being able to see their families' notices in the Chron made me feel closer.
Then, of course, there was coverage of the council meeting - though I was also able to watch the live stream on my smartphone; and the (mostly) unmissable letters.
I fear we're in danger of losing our six-day-a-week newspaper of record as media mergers and non-mergers show how parlous their financial viability is in this digital age.
Already at the top of the South Island one paper has gone to three days and another is about to follow.
And as a veteran of the great Wanganui Herald, which was merged into the Chron in the early 1970s, I know how easy it is for Whanganui to lose a daily paper of record. The Herald's 'ghost' is now the Wednesday-only MidWeek.
Bevan's right, we need to support our "local rag". Most of those who use free Facebook ads won't read this, perhaps they could do their bit by running some of those For Sales etc in the Chron classifieds because that's where I've had the best responses.
I fear it's a case of use it or lose it, folks.
CAROL WEBB, Whanganui
Dyer got it wrong
Columnist Gwynne Dyer declared the US president's speech to "the assembled leaders of the Muslim world" to be "reckless", "meaningless rhetoric" and, in effect, a pack of lies.
Dyer takes exception to Donald Trump calling Iran a state sponsor of terrorism and advocating for opposition to Iran's policies and actions, going so far as to say "Trump has drunk the Kool Aid",
Dyer makes it seem as though it is Trump's idea but the US declared Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984 and has monitored that behaviour ever since.
The 2015 US Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism stated: "In 2015, Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism worldwide remained undiminished through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), its Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and Tehran's ally Hizballah, which remained a significant threat to the stability of Lebanon and the broader region."
This tells us the Obama administration also considered Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
Other nations have proof of Iran's efforts. In 2015, for example, Bahrain arrested suspects involved in a bomb-making factory, people with links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
But Gwynne Dyer states Iran "does not support terrorist attacks against the West or the Arab world". It could be argued that Israel is neither part of the West nor of the Arab world, thus Gwynne can ignore things like Iran's funding of Hezbollah and Hamas, both terrorist groups aimed at the eradication of Israel.
What is clear is that it is Gwynne Dyer who has drunk the Kool Aid, the one requiring journalists to be partisan opponents of President Trump instead of balanced reporters.
K A BENFELL, Gonville
