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I spend a LOT of time on the Whanganui River. What a great article, thanks for sharing! If it is a legal person then I know quite a few people who would like

I spend a LOT of time on the Whanganui River. What a great article, thanks for sharing! If it is a legal person then I know quite a few people who would like the Whanganui River to be held accountable for its actions in the destruction of personal property. Haha. About 20km up the River is a wool shed I’ve been visiting since 2011. On it is a marker of the highest known modern flooding level. It was shockingly high. Since that time there has been 2 major bouts of river flooding. The most recent was metres above the last record high(above wool shed roofline). That river is bipolar. Absolutely beautiful and deceptively dangerous. The Whanganui River is like an old girlfriend who will always have my heart, but it’s best we spent most of our time apart. It changes literally right before your eyes. Riverside erosion in real time, and rain upriver can raise the river height and speed faster than any other river I have spent time on. It’s like nature on time lapse. A good friend and mentor is on the local Iwi(Maori Tribe) governance board. The best part is there is no mobile phone connectivity up the river. Only hardline or satphone.

xupybd 8y ago
Good to see another kiwi on here. I grew up in Whanganui. You must be pretty far up to run out of cell service. I had service all the way up to the bridge to no where last time I was up that way. It is weird to see the river or as my dad would say awa in hacker news.
- chriselles 8y ago
  Absolutely! I’m South Island based, but up there twice a year for the last 8 years. We lose mobile coverage once we are descending on the north side of the hill heading up the river from town. We stay at a farm and Marae owned by the local river people iwi. We hang out between there and Jeresulem further north. Hope your family and friends did ok in the floods. Pretty crazy seeing it here, already shared it and the river folks I’ve been able to reach are really chuffed with the article.

xupybd 8y ago

Good to see another kiwi on here. I grew up in Whanganui. You must be pretty far up to run out of cell service. I had service all the way up to the bridge to no where last time I was up that way. It is weird to see the river or as my dad would say awa in hacker news.

chriselles 8y ago
Absolutely! I’m South Island based, but up there twice a year for the last 8 years. We lose mobile coverage once we are descending on the north side of the hill heading up the river from town. We stay at a farm and Marae owned by the local river people iwi. We hang out between there and Jeresulem further north. Hope your family and friends did ok in the floods. Pretty crazy seeing it here, already shared it and the river folks I’ve been able to reach are really chuffed with the article.