The River City Walking Group is a community group based in Whanganui New Zealand. We run a range of walks & tramping trips around Whanganui and further afield
Our Walking Group events and tramping trips are open to everyone
We are free to join, we do not have an annual membership fee
**River City Walking Group - Whanganui**
There is no need to book yourself on the local walks or sign up for the walking group, just meet at the time and location stated. If you require help with transport please let us know. You don't need to do the full walk if you're not able to. Afternoon walks take place on Sunday afternoons throughout the year, once a month from October through to March and twice a month from April through to September. These walks are of varying lengths and difficulties, usually there will be shorter and longer variations for the local walks. Evening walks run from October until March, and take place twice a month on Saturday evenings starting from 7 pm. These walks range from 30 minutes up to 1.5 hours long, again some with shorter and longer options as well.
**River City Tramping Group - Whanganui**
For our out-of-town trips, you need to register yourself for these trips and sign up for the walking group. There will be two trips a month, with one being the "main tramp" and the second event being a more family-friendly type of tramp, that is less strenuous or technical than the main tramp and won't cost more than $20. For out-of-town tramps, we use our private vehicles to get to the track and you'll need to pay a small fee to cover the transport cost. The meeting location for out-of-town trips is the Church on Ingestre car park (corner Campbell and Ingestre Streets, car park on Campbell.) If you're new to the group and interested in joining a trip, if it's moderate or hard, you must phone or text the trip organizer listed in the trip description. They will assess whether the tramp is suitable for your level of fitness and experience, let you know what clothing and gear you need, and answer any questions you have. If you need help to cover the transport cost please let us know.
**Other Events**
Watch this space!! Starting in 2025 we are going to start trailing some other types of events. These may be a family fun event in town, a road trip, or a visit somewhere. Plus also a few shared meals
**New Year's Walks Programme**
Our New Year's Walks Programme is a new initiative for us, but it has turned out to be one of the highlights of the year. This started with a single tramp on New Year's Eve 2022 and has grown to five events over a fortnight, with more plans for the future. These are mostly family-friendly events with a mix of local afternoon and evening walks plus a couple of out-of-town trips, with the last event ending with a BBQ.
We have a compassion/ hardship fund plus a discount for people 16 & under, made possible by the support we receive from Church on Ingestre
To go on the email list rivercity.walking@gmail.com
Website: https://www.sporty.co.nz/rivercitywalking
Tramping group signup form: https://submit.jotform.com/233232459607861
For any questions or updates contact Willem Doodeman-Beamsley on 0278992458
River City Walking Group History
The walking group is relatively new, formed by Willem Doodeman-Beamsley back in 2020 as the RiverCity Tramping Group with support from Ingestre Street Bible Church (now Church on Ingestre), and ran mostly tramps outside of Whanganui. Regular Local Walks began in 2021 with a series of twilight walks on Monday evenings, the local walks eventually became the main focus of the group due to their popularity and became running more frequently and year-round, with the tramping side of the group slowing to only a few tramps a year in 2022 & 2023. The walking group took a pause during 2023 as Willem and his Wife Wai welcomed their daughter Anneke into the world. The walking group bounced back into life in August of that year and has been going strong since with a mixture of family-friendly walks in addition to a few more strenuous walks around Whanganui. Day tramps started to make an appearance regularly back on the schedule from the end of 2023, and late 2023 also saw the launch of this website.
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