I'm so grateful for the way you describe Whanganui, and Aotearoa in general, as if it somehow magically appeared, full-blown, moments before you arrived - and (lol) as if there are somehow actual seasons. By now you know anything can happen weather-wise anywhere. In Aotearoa it's always Stick Season somewhere.
Have you been to Bushy Park (just a click or two out of town) - now there's a place with a weird back story and you can camp or BnB in the homestead. Go during the walnut fall and forage pillowcases full along the side roads.
BTW I think everyone in Aotearoa knows someone from Whanganui.
Hi Susan! You're too kind. I think you summed up the whole newsletter right there! There's no way I can ever get this right, or explain it in a way that doesn't sound patronizing in some way. The wonder is real. The vague disbelief that powers it, too? I reisist getting too bogged down. I don't want it to turn to Kansas on me. But the history--everything that did, in fact, happen before I got here--is endlessly fascianting to me. In aprt for its crazy echoes with the frontier space of my dear American West, and in part for its own sake. Wait, though. If you switch countries, can any place ever be seen entirely for its own sake? IS NZ that way to you now?
Will check out Bushy Park next time! And I hold fast to my belief in seasons, only for a desert rat's deep loyalty to summer as The Only Season. NZ's is coming, in fits and starts, and I will be here for it!
I had no 'frontier' experience and was still operating at a NYC rate of knots when we arrived plus having a first baby soon after meant I didn't notice much for while but it was the kindnesses and care I noticed first.
Earliest experience included looking in vain for a 'crib' in the scant yellow pages, finding out a crib was a South island 'bach' (and then finding out what a bach was), despairing because there was a 4 month wait-list for a cot (and just about everything else) to come from somewhere else, and feeling so (tearfully) grateful when a complete stranger in the shop (to pick up their cot) offered us the use of their beautiful basinette.
Welp. Have lived in NZ going on 18 years (with a four-year detour in the middle) and never been to The 'Nui. Looks like someplace we need to visit - thanks for sharing, DK.
I love Whanganui. My ancestors settled around there, it was my mother's hometown and I spent many school holidays on the family farm. I even volunteered in the museum. I feel closer to Whanganui than to where I grew up in Tauranga. I still have a brother living there and I often fantasise about retiring there in a old villa or a mid-century wonder on top of St John's Hill. The market is a fantastic piece of Whanganui now and I wish the UCOL facilities hadn't shrunk as I think Whanganui could be a great cultural and arts centre.
Hi Muse! (Always loved your handle.) How cool you got to volunteer in the museum! Such a cool place--handsome building, lots of good stuff. We went out of a traveler's duty and it cheerfully took over my letter. We also sat by the river dreaming of a house on the hill--St John's or Durie, take your pick. They are cheaper than Welly, for sure, with better weather too. I think (I hope!) the place has a bright future. Maybe one day we'll be neigbors up there!
My Dad was born in Whanganui in 1933. I’ve been there too many times to count, but I’d never heard the story of the whale. Thanks! Oh and that’s another great word to use when people argue about the H. Why is there an H in whale? Or why? Or where? (Sorry, off on a tangent, things got quite heated when (wen) they were finally correcting the spelling.
Hi Lucy! What a cool town to have roots in. I'm sorry I missed the spelling debate, honestly. As a word guy it's fascinating. The account I linked to hints that the gap between river and town respellings served as a kind of cooling off or adjustment period, where people came around the the h? But I know the switch was still a big deal for folks.
Texas is full of epically mangled Spanish names (pronounciation, more than spelling) that have long since taken on a life of their own. I see the changes here in NZ and wonder if they'll ever switch back.
There is a whole school of thought about this. The W & H in the word 'whale' got switched around, the h used to come first, 'hwæl' in Old English I believe. Some think it is to do with the sound of the whale's breath. It's worth listening to Will Self reading the chapter 'The Whiteness of the Whale' in the Moby Dick Big Read, I will find it & link it below!
"...we drove into town in a tired summer twilight..."
For anyone who is shivering in the brisk southerly right now, it's just your reminder that it's still spring! Big ups to your kids for braving those chilly waves!
(What is this rush of words for summer that many people have that simply ignores Spring? Is the mirage of Summer so great that it eclipses Spring? Is Spring a season that is the poor cousin to Summer -a kind of shabby season that is best not mentioned in the presence of a radiant Summer, shining in all her glory that is some months away?)
And your observations of Whanganui people are neat. The man I met who owns the record shop in Victoria Street moved with his wife and kids from Auckland, and he loved living in Whanganui then, and I'm sure he still does!
Hi Christopher! That's fair. My kid's bound for a field trip in Welly today and we packed him off with the puffer for the wind. Forgive me but in Phoenix summer was pretty much Easter to Halloween, the great Leviathan season that ruled over all the others, and has permanently broken my thermostat and seasonal rhythms. NZ's glorious summer is too damn short & a source of both joy and unrequited longing I can hardly deal with. Whanganui, too, has something in the air...it's stiller, hazier, more lethargic than either the Wairarapa or Welly. It *feels* more summery to me, is what I mean, even when it ain't?
Owning a record shop in Whanganui--that man is living his best life, for sure. Maybe he needs a dad to sweep up!
Whanganui te reo dialect has an aspirated ‘h’, not an ‘f’ sound, for Wh. Probably why it was spelt Wanganui initially. The Council put out a YouTube video on local pronunciation.
Hi Andrew! Thanks for this. I'm out here learning. Will go watch the video. I've been saying it wrong while thinking I was saying it right! Though to be fair I think my 'wh' in Whanganui is already pretty damn soft/aspirated because I'm not sure how to do it and mumbling through seems the best strategy. Will go watch the video!
Ah, I was in Whanganui those exact same dates! My partner's daughter created the Iona Airbnb, which we finally had a chance to experience for ourselves. We had time to visit Paige's book shop, which I enjoyed very much, along with the blown glass gallery, Rick Rudd's pottery museum (Quartz), and other wonderful little art galleries and shops. I wanted to live in Whanganui when I first came here, but my partner said emphatically that it is too cold there. I had never heard of this phone you mentioned, so I will check it out next time I'm there! Thx!
Hi Jean! What?? You were there too? Crazy. NZ is that small sometimes! The Iona house looks super cool, we may have to stay there next time. The Drews Avenue phone is a funny little thing--I wanted to dismiss it as a gimmick but totally loved it & and it gave me a letter to write! Too cold?? Aucklanders have such thin blood. I think of Whanganui as delightfully WARMER than Welly and about on par with the 'rapa...I'm sure somebody can hop on here and tell me I'm wrong. I kinda want to live there one day, too? Hope all is well up in AKL!
Used to live relatively close to Whanganui and had to go there for work quite often - it's actually an ok town, just nothing special in my opinion. But the houses sure are cheaper than in Hamilton that's true!
Hi Sophie! Thanks for this. There's a certain overheated praise we pour on smalltowns with a spark--I've been on the smalltown side of that equation both in the US and NZ, and here I am pouring fairy dust on a place I've spent mere hours in! Vibes are vibes. But we can also invent vibes out of our wishes for something that may not actually exist!
Bloody excellent Dan! I've met that American Dave, at a party in the Wang.
Re. the sculpture, my friend Kelly from the Sculpture Trust told me the other day that all Anish Kapoor's big steel works are manufactured in NZ. I don't know if you've seen the new upside down teardrop in Wellington (whose name & artist I forget) but it's made in the same workshop as the Kapoor pieces, so likely this bean you describe was manufactured there too.
Lastly, I was reluctant to Pākehasplain pronunciation in your comments section, but it's my understanding that the reason for the linguistic confusion re 'W' v. 'Wh' sounds is that in local dialect the 'Wh' becomes more of an in-between sound, like 'W-h-anganui'.
Of course you know Dave! 100 percent gringo wizard. Very kind to me, he was. Hope I've done him justice, and absolutely expect to see him again down the trail.
Pakehasplain away! I'm here to learn. In writing this I realized I'd already internalized the soft reo 'wh' where the lips don't touch the teeth like a hard English f. Didn't even have to think about it, just osmosis. But this is a whole new layer. Makes sense! Spelling bastardizations do emerge from somewhere, right or wrong.
Pretty cool about Kapoor! Had no idea. Haven't seen the new Welly piece either. Who knows, maybe McCracken and Kapoor had a whole yarn about the magic of shiny public orbs.
Hi Paul! Glad you liked it! That outsider feeling ebbs and wanes--writing can pull it both ways, depending on the topic & internal weather--but I don't know that it weill ever truly go away. Not sure I want it too, either? Thanks for reading!
I'm so grateful for the way you describe Whanganui, and Aotearoa in general, as if it somehow magically appeared, full-blown, moments before you arrived - and (lol) as if there are somehow actual seasons. By now you know anything can happen weather-wise anywhere. In Aotearoa it's always Stick Season somewhere.
Have you been to Bushy Park (just a click or two out of town) - now there's a place with a weird back story and you can camp or BnB in the homestead. Go during the walnut fall and forage pillowcases full along the side roads.
BTW I think everyone in Aotearoa knows someone from Whanganui.
Hi Susan! You're too kind. I think you summed up the whole newsletter right there! There's no way I can ever get this right, or explain it in a way that doesn't sound patronizing in some way. The wonder is real. The vague disbelief that powers it, too? I reisist getting too bogged down. I don't want it to turn to Kansas on me. But the history--everything that did, in fact, happen before I got here--is endlessly fascianting to me. In aprt for its crazy echoes with the frontier space of my dear American West, and in part for its own sake. Wait, though. If you switch countries, can any place ever be seen entirely for its own sake? IS NZ that way to you now?
Will check out Bushy Park next time! And I hold fast to my belief in seasons, only for a desert rat's deep loyalty to summer as The Only Season. NZ's is coming, in fits and starts, and I will be here for it!
I had no 'frontier' experience and was still operating at a NYC rate of knots when we arrived plus having a first baby soon after meant I didn't notice much for while but it was the kindnesses and care I noticed first.
Earliest experience included looking in vain for a 'crib' in the scant yellow pages, finding out a crib was a South island 'bach' (and then finding out what a bach was), despairing because there was a 4 month wait-list for a cot (and just about everything else) to come from somewhere else, and feeling so (tearfully) grateful when a complete stranger in the shop (to pick up their cot) offered us the use of their beautiful basinette.
May you be here for many more summers.
great piece but unfortunately now i have no choice but to plan a trip halfway around the world to dance under the ghost of a whale
Hi Margo! C'mon down!! We got the whale. NOLA knows how to dance
Welp. Have lived in NZ going on 18 years (with a four-year detour in the middle) and never been to The 'Nui. Looks like someplace we need to visit - thanks for sharing, DK.
Dude you gotta go! Definite 'cool small town' vibes. You know the US West versions of this. The Kiwi take has noticeably less Subarus
I love Whanganui. My ancestors settled around there, it was my mother's hometown and I spent many school holidays on the family farm. I even volunteered in the museum. I feel closer to Whanganui than to where I grew up in Tauranga. I still have a brother living there and I often fantasise about retiring there in a old villa or a mid-century wonder on top of St John's Hill. The market is a fantastic piece of Whanganui now and I wish the UCOL facilities hadn't shrunk as I think Whanganui could be a great cultural and arts centre.
Hi Muse! (Always loved your handle.) How cool you got to volunteer in the museum! Such a cool place--handsome building, lots of good stuff. We went out of a traveler's duty and it cheerfully took over my letter. We also sat by the river dreaming of a house on the hill--St John's or Durie, take your pick. They are cheaper than Welly, for sure, with better weather too. I think (I hope!) the place has a bright future. Maybe one day we'll be neigbors up there!
My Dad was born in Whanganui in 1933. I’ve been there too many times to count, but I’d never heard the story of the whale. Thanks! Oh and that’s another great word to use when people argue about the H. Why is there an H in whale? Or why? Or where? (Sorry, off on a tangent, things got quite heated when (wen) they were finally correcting the spelling.
Hi Lucy! What a cool town to have roots in. I'm sorry I missed the spelling debate, honestly. As a word guy it's fascinating. The account I linked to hints that the gap between river and town respellings served as a kind of cooling off or adjustment period, where people came around the the h? But I know the switch was still a big deal for folks.
Texas is full of epically mangled Spanish names (pronounciation, more than spelling) that have long since taken on a life of their own. I see the changes here in NZ and wonder if they'll ever switch back.
There is a whole school of thought about this. The W & H in the word 'whale' got switched around, the h used to come first, 'hwæl' in Old English I believe. Some think it is to do with the sound of the whale's breath. It's worth listening to Will Self reading the chapter 'The Whiteness of the Whale' in the Moby Dick Big Read, I will find it & link it below!
https://www.mobydickbigread.com/chapter-42-the-whiteness-of-the-whale/
P.S. my Dad was also born in Whanganui
Love that chapter, this recording is awesome!
"...we drove into town in a tired summer twilight..."
For anyone who is shivering in the brisk southerly right now, it's just your reminder that it's still spring! Big ups to your kids for braving those chilly waves!
(What is this rush of words for summer that many people have that simply ignores Spring? Is the mirage of Summer so great that it eclipses Spring? Is Spring a season that is the poor cousin to Summer -a kind of shabby season that is best not mentioned in the presence of a radiant Summer, shining in all her glory that is some months away?)
And your observations of Whanganui people are neat. The man I met who owns the record shop in Victoria Street moved with his wife and kids from Auckland, and he loved living in Whanganui then, and I'm sure he still does!
Hi Christopher! That's fair. My kid's bound for a field trip in Welly today and we packed him off with the puffer for the wind. Forgive me but in Phoenix summer was pretty much Easter to Halloween, the great Leviathan season that ruled over all the others, and has permanently broken my thermostat and seasonal rhythms. NZ's glorious summer is too damn short & a source of both joy and unrequited longing I can hardly deal with. Whanganui, too, has something in the air...it's stiller, hazier, more lethargic than either the Wairarapa or Welly. It *feels* more summery to me, is what I mean, even when it ain't?
Owning a record shop in Whanganui--that man is living his best life, for sure. Maybe he needs a dad to sweep up!
Whanganui te reo dialect has an aspirated ‘h’, not an ‘f’ sound, for Wh. Probably why it was spelt Wanganui initially. The Council put out a YouTube video on local pronunciation.
Hi Andrew! Thanks for this. I'm out here learning. Will go watch the video. I've been saying it wrong while thinking I was saying it right! Though to be fair I think my 'wh' in Whanganui is already pretty damn soft/aspirated because I'm not sure how to do it and mumbling through seems the best strategy. Will go watch the video!
I hear this variation sometimes here in Wellington too because of the 1810s migration/conquest of Taranaki hapu into Wellington City.
Cool! I didn't know that. Will listen for it!
Ah, I was in Whanganui those exact same dates! My partner's daughter created the Iona Airbnb, which we finally had a chance to experience for ourselves. We had time to visit Paige's book shop, which I enjoyed very much, along with the blown glass gallery, Rick Rudd's pottery museum (Quartz), and other wonderful little art galleries and shops. I wanted to live in Whanganui when I first came here, but my partner said emphatically that it is too cold there. I had never heard of this phone you mentioned, so I will check it out next time I'm there! Thx!
Hi Jean! What?? You were there too? Crazy. NZ is that small sometimes! The Iona house looks super cool, we may have to stay there next time. The Drews Avenue phone is a funny little thing--I wanted to dismiss it as a gimmick but totally loved it & and it gave me a letter to write! Too cold?? Aucklanders have such thin blood. I think of Whanganui as delightfully WARMER than Welly and about on par with the 'rapa...I'm sure somebody can hop on here and tell me I'm wrong. I kinda want to live there one day, too? Hope all is well up in AKL!
Used to live relatively close to Whanganui and had to go there for work quite often - it's actually an ok town, just nothing special in my opinion. But the houses sure are cheaper than in Hamilton that's true!
Hi Sophie! Thanks for this. There's a certain overheated praise we pour on smalltowns with a spark--I've been on the smalltown side of that equation both in the US and NZ, and here I am pouring fairy dust on a place I've spent mere hours in! Vibes are vibes. But we can also invent vibes out of our wishes for something that may not actually exist!
It's probably because you've only spent mere hours there that you're sprinkling fairy dust lol 😂 I'm sorry, I apologise to Whanganui
Love that town!!!
Bloody excellent Dan! I've met that American Dave, at a party in the Wang.
Re. the sculpture, my friend Kelly from the Sculpture Trust told me the other day that all Anish Kapoor's big steel works are manufactured in NZ. I don't know if you've seen the new upside down teardrop in Wellington (whose name & artist I forget) but it's made in the same workshop as the Kapoor pieces, so likely this bean you describe was manufactured there too.
Lastly, I was reluctant to Pākehasplain pronunciation in your comments section, but it's my understanding that the reason for the linguistic confusion re 'W' v. 'Wh' sounds is that in local dialect the 'Wh' becomes more of an in-between sound, like 'W-h-anganui'.
Of course you know Dave! 100 percent gringo wizard. Very kind to me, he was. Hope I've done him justice, and absolutely expect to see him again down the trail.
Pakehasplain away! I'm here to learn. In writing this I realized I'd already internalized the soft reo 'wh' where the lips don't touch the teeth like a hard English f. Didn't even have to think about it, just osmosis. But this is a whole new layer. Makes sense! Spelling bastardizations do emerge from somewhere, right or wrong.
Pretty cool about Kapoor! Had no idea. Haven't seen the new Welly piece either. Who knows, maybe McCracken and Kapoor had a whole yarn about the magic of shiny public orbs.
Here tis— KIMI by Seung Yul Oh
https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/360899003/seung-yul-ohs-kimiyou-are-here-sculpture-unveiled-wellington
Cool! This is totally a genre now. I want one shaped like a potato
Thank you for this wonderful recount ... it is nice to see our everyday wonders from an (almost) outsiders perspective.
Hi Paul! Glad you liked it! That outsider feeling ebbs and wanes--writing can pull it both ways, depending on the topic & internal weather--but I don't know that it weill ever truly go away. Not sure I want it too, either? Thanks for reading!
Lovely