Paddle Steamer Waimarie

18/02/2025

We are saddened by the passing of Trevor Gibson, a valued member of the wider PS Waimarie family. Trevor has been involved since very early on in PS Waimarie's second life—as a skipper, then as a board member of the Whanganui Riverboat Restoration and Navigation Trust. His passion for PS Waimarie and all things nautical was undeniable, and his contributions played a vital role in Waimarie’s journey.

A true sailor at heart, Trevor’s dedication and knowledge left a lasting impact. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy will always be part of the maritime world.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Fair winds and following seas, Trevor.

⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓

*Old NZ Herald article that shares a bit about him 👇👇

Browse local and regional news from the Whanganui region - whanganuichronicle.co.nz

18/02/2025

Want to hear what our visitors love about a cruise with us? 👇👇

We caught up with Robin Martin from RNZ to chat about our journey that's 125 years in the making.

Whanganui's iconic paddle steamer - the Waimarie - is celebrating a double anniversary of sorts this year. Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin went along for a cruise.

08/02/2025

📣 Did you know 📣
✔PS Waimarie is one of New Zealand's oldest vessels still in operation today!

✔ Built in 1899, making her one of the oldest working steam-powered vessels in New Zealand.

✔ Still actively carrying passengers and sharing tourism on the Whanganui River with locals and visitors alike.

✔ One of the oldest and very few coal-fired steamers still in operation, anywhere.

✔ Believed to be the only vessel in the world operating this type of boiler originally made for torpedo boats and intended to reach speeds of up to 32 knots!😅

When you join us for a cruise, you aren't just stepping into a significant piece of Whanganui's heritage - you are experiencing one of New Zealand's oldest working vessels just as unique on the world stage as it is in Whanganui.

29/01/2025

Summer vibes from Whanganui - We're here for it 👐👐👐

28/01/2025

Mark your calendars, we have the award winning and ever talented Sophie Toyne joining us on the 8th February for a family friendly 2-hour cruise on PS Waimarie as the sun starts to set.

Sophie has been singing since she was 5 years old. She first started singing at club nights at Amdram and then moved to singing country music. Music and singing has become her passion and we absolutely love having her join us!

Grab your tickets here 👇👇
https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/waimarie/items/306768/?full-items=yes&flow=493351

20/01/2025

POV - you open your gallery after joining us to help celebrate our 25-year anniversary and Whanganui Vintage Weekend 2025

17/01/2025

Beauty start to Whanganui Vintage Weekend!🎉

14/01/2025

Here's how our Whanganui Vintage Weekend is looking - how's yours?

11/01/2025

Gliding on the awa..

Shes a quintessential Whanganui experience.⚓️⭐️

08/01/2025

Were supper excited to be hosting Wild Chix NZ for a Basic boating for Woman session in February as a part of Women's Network Whanganui annual La Feista Festival. 😍

If you are keen to join us, head to www.wildchix.co.nz

Coastguard Whanganui

Wild Chix aims to give women the confidence to excel in male-dominated fields.

07/01/2025

🚲Retro River Ride in Whanganui 🚲

Our friends over Whanganui Green Bikes are hosting a Retro Ride as apart of Whanganui's annual Whanganui Vintage Weekend celebrations. Visiting town but didn’t pack your wheels? Don’t sweat it — we’ve got you covered.

Give us a shout to check availability on our cruiser bikes. And hey, if you’re lucky, you might just score a ride on Angie, our groovy old gal straight out of the 1960s. She’s a total vibe and ready to roll!

03/01/2025

Anyone up for a white water Riverboat ride👇😆🤦‍♂️

Unfortunately, our sailings today are cancelled 😭

Let's try again tomorrow, mother nature might wake up a bit less aggressive 🤔 😂

Stay safe out there team!

03/01/2025

Hipango Park excursion - CONFIRMED!💃🕺

For all those people that were interested in our Hipango Park trip we can now confirm this cruise will be going ahead!

Anyone that is on our mailing list would have received a email with all the details

For anyone else, bookings are open!

This is a trip that takes you the farthest reaches our old girl can go to a park gifted to the City of Whanganui by Putiki chief Waata Wiremu Hipango in 1913.

For more information and bookings head to our website 👇👉◾🎁https://www.waimarie.co.nz/events/hipango-park-picnic-cruise

Where the past meets the present

01/01/2025

25 years back in operation!🎉🎉🎉

To day marks 25 years since our old girl has been back in operation on Te Awa Tupua - the Whanganui River.

It's been 30 + years since members of community came together and started the planning behind what was known as 'Project Waimarie' and used the power of a community to start work on the mammoth task of restoring parts of the riverbank and the building now known as the Whanganui Riverboat Centre then salvaging and restoring PS Waimarie to re enter her into operation on 1 January 2000.

And.... here we are today❤️

While mother nature didn't play ball we had a blast of a anniversary cruise with our passengers today, good music, cake and laughter!

We're loving this journey so far that's been 125 years in the making 🛳⚓️🎉

29/12/2024

⚓️WIN⚓️ a chance to be skipper for they day

Do you know a young person between the age of 6 and 14 that would love the opportunity to be Skipper for the day on the Waimarie during Vintage weekend 2025?

To enter:

👉 Comment and let us know why your young person would love this opportunity

What they get:

⭐️ Walk alongside our Skipper to get the vessel ready and learn about the cool quirks of the boat and about all the cool things that come with being at the helm of our old girl.
⭐️ A PS Waimarie shirt and a genuine crew cap to keep for life.
⭐️ A family pass, so the whole family can join the cruise and be apart of the experience.

Comment below and a winner will be announced by 5pm, January 13.

Nominees must be between the age of 6 and 14.
Parental permission is required.

27/12/2024

This isn't the kind of post we like to make because of the bad juju but it is getting a bit ridiculous now and time to call out the stupidity.

Sitting on the Upokongaro Wharf is a crucial and important piece of equipment needed for large boats to come along side at this wharf, and have passengers' safely embark and disembark vessels.

The Upokongaro Wharf is a piece of public infrastructure we are extremely lucky to have as an all of community asset, but this gangway is not public infrastructure, and it comes at a high cost to repair for our not-for-profit organisation not to mention the cost associated with the change of schedule both in terms of visitor expectations and financial loss to the business and to our staff.

This doesn't just affect us; it affects the businesses that operate in the Upokongaro community.

For those of you who have booked on our Upokongaro Stop Over we will be in touch to rebook your trip with us. For those looking to book our padel and bike package, we are really sorry, but we now can't berth at Upokongaro without a working gangway, being the time of year it is its going to take a couple weeks for us to get this fixed, watch this space for updates!