We left New Plymouth early and meandered south to Whanganui. When we were close to Whanganui and because it was lunchtime we went to Bason Botanical Gardens which turned out to be a real treat. The gardens had flowers from all over the world. We ended up spending about 2 hours there. We stopped at the NZAA to pick up some better maps than we had and then we contacted Father Robert MacPherson and had a really delightful dinner with him at a local restaurant. Spent a very interesting couple of hours talking to him about his experiences as a priest. It is easy to understand why Mal and Terry are so proud of their son. Whanganui is a very quaint little town. Was surprised to hear bells sounding out the hour. The Whanganui River apparently flooded its banks last week. It is raining as I speak but really only a drizzle. We had a bit of an adventure finding our campground as 2 different sources placed it on both sides of the River. Finally found it and it is by far the best campground we have stayed at. Very clean with modern facilities. One of the campers here who has a campervan similar to ours was complaining to me that he was very disappointed with the TV in the camper because he had lousy tv reception. He looked rather sheepish when I told him it was only meant to bemused with a DVD player. Tomorrow we are off to Ohakune to spend time roaming around Tongariro National Park. I called Jos Penner's sister tonite and we will meet up with her after she finishes work tomorrow.