Publications

Heritage New Zealand Magazine Magazine Request Spring 2008 Winter 2008 Autumn 2008 Summer 2007 Spring 2007 Winter 2007 Autumn 2007 Summer 2006 Spring 2006 Winter 2006 Autumn 2006 Summer 2005 Spring 2005 Winter 2005 50th Anniversary commemorative issue Autumn 2005 Summer 2004 Spring 2004 Winter 2004 Autumn 2004 Summer 2003 Spring 2003 Winter 2003 Autumn 2003 Summer 2002 Spring 2002 NZ Historic Places Magazine May 2002 February 2002 November 2001 August 2001 May 2001 February 2001 November 2000 August 2000 May 2000 February 2000

Membership of the Historic Places Trust entitles you to a range of unique benefits including a free subscription to Heritage New Zealand magazine.

From issue: Autumn 2004

Riverboat Offers a Touch of the Past

by Wendy Pettigrew

In the 1880s, it was Kennedy's; now it is Upokongaro. Then, it was a riverboat ride or a twice-daily coach service from Wanganui; now, the riverside village at the southern end of the Parapara section of State Highway 4 is an easy 12-kilometre drive north of the River City.

The restored paddle steamer, the Waimarie. Photo: Leigh Mitchell-Anyon

A restored paddle steamer, the Waimarie, offering a taste of the journey of an 1880s' tourist, will stop there at weekends using a new jetty.

Kennedy's came from John Kennedy, who had settled in Upokongaro in 1866, when he took over the pub opened that year by William Caines. He built a store and established a post office while also running the cross-river ferry service. He rebuilt the hotel, advertising "first class accommodation for tourists and families" in Pownall's 1885 Illustrated Guide to the West Coast of the North Island.

Fire destroyed Kennedy's hotel in 1929, when today's Avoca Hotel was under construction.

However, Kennedy's store continued to serve the community as village shop and post office for more than 100 years. Today, it is the Riviera Café and Restaurant* and the oldest building in Upokongaro.

Another of John Kennedy's legacies to Upokongaro is the Memorial Hall. The 1950s' facade of the hall hides its 1881 origins, when Kennedy built it as a courthouse and theatre. The Native Land Court sat there frequently in the latter part of the 19th century. Dunedin photographer Alfred Burton noted in his 1885 diary that "one of the cleverest little amateur dramatic companies in the Colony" performed there.

Kennedy was also a supporter of the Church. The first services were held at his hotel in the 1870s before he and other settlers donated funds to build St Mary's Anglican Church. This Category I registered building, with what Burton described as a "three-sided spire, something like a bayonet," was erected in 1877. The chancel was added in 1892. Local parishioners open the church once a month, (on the second Sunday in the month from 2 - 4p.m), when visitors can view the late Victorian stained-glass windows, which are set off so well by the rich wooden interior.

A triptych window commemorates the son of a local settler who drowned in the English Channel on the clipper Avalanche along with 20 other people from Wanganui. This disaster for the town occurred on September 11, 1877. In 2002, the 125th anniversary of the Avalanche sinking coincided with the first anniversary of New York's Twin Towers disaster.

* Please note that the Riviera Cafe closed in early March 2004.