The Te Araroa Trail season is under way and already a number of walkers going both north and south have passed through Whanganui.
The season is a little different this year as with the Auckland lockdown many walkers — they are nearly all Kiwis again — have found their plans disrupted. Some, after completing the Far North, have flown over Auckland to start again further down the North Island.
Others have chosen to go to Wellington and come back north.
Whanganui is usually a major stopover point, particularly for south-bound walkers as they take the opportunity to rest and resupply after canoeing the river or walking through the central part of the island and down the Whanganui River Road.
A recent work party by the Te Araroa Whanganui Trust and Trail Angels from Whanganui and Bulls upgraded trail markers from Koitiata to Bulls, focussing particularly on where the trail leaves the beach to go through forest and join back roads to Bulls. This follows confusion for some walkers through this area.