The town lies on the South Taranaki Bight at the mouth of New Zealand's longest navigable river, the Wanganui or Whanganui River. In the early part of the 20th century it was the fifth-largest city in the country, but its rate of growth was unable to keep it in that position. The athletic track at Cook's Gardens saw a world mile record set by Peter Snell on 27 January 1962. In 1995, Moutua Gardens near the riverbank became a centre of a controversial occupation involving Ken Mair. See also: