Fifteen individual motel units.Accommodation: Five x 2 bedroom units,
Four x 1 bedroom units,
Two studio units,
Four FDU’s (Future Development Units)
Management: Units managed & maintained for owners. Operating costs allocated under unit entitlements and occupancy rates. Profits equitably distributed to owners monthly.
Average occupancy rate during last three years is well ahead of Taupo region or NZ average rates.
Full information and unit occupancy breakdown available on request.
Land Area: 4760 m2 (Over 1 acre) Price Range: (as at 2009)
From $110,000 (studios) to $195,000 (2 bedroom units)
Ask about new 2 bedroom units to be erected.
 Aerial view as at November 2007 – State Highway 1 in foreground, entrance off Link Road side street, Taupahi Road at rear. |
General Information: Aerial view as at November 2007 - State Highway 1 in foreground, Tongariro River – Major Jones Pool at top of photo.
The conceptual basis of this offer is to provide holiday accommodation units which will be fully managed during the remainder of the year when not required by the owners.
The property has been successfully operated as a motel business for over 50 years and has a well established reputation.
The owners are intending to build up to four additional units to enhance the overall viability of the motel operation.
The units will be managed by on-site management.
Individual owners will have their say in management.
The managers will operate the motel and be responsible for maintaining the property.
The management contract provides for recovery of operating costs from room rates with the balance returned to individual owners.
For more information phone 07 386 8555.
 Turangi Location Map – half way to everywhere…
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Boxer Dog for sale– Free to a good home?
( x Daily Report for August 10th, 2011)
Tongariro River Motel had two international VIP’s staying this week. No, not more legendary anglers. These guests are far more important with massive potential to promote Turangi (or wherever else they might be staying incognito) into the most popular tourist mecca in NZ. Even more power than the Minister of Tourism on the Letterman show! As soon as the Turangi Visitor Centre twigged as to their importance to tourism they warned us hoping we would give them the royal TRM treatment. And we did… But then TRM’s world famous trout-catching pooch, Boof, let us down. Again! He sneaked into their unit and pinched their salami off the table. Not just a couple of slices… The whole bloody roll! Sorry. the Manager SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) failed. That is probably the last time they will ever refer us new guests.
VIP guests – Catherine Le Nevez (and husband Julian) is an author who travels the world writing for the most important tourist publications in the world… i.e. The Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. I have the 2008 issue of The Rough Guide to NZ in front of me. It is interesting how they describe my wonderful carefully selected retirement haven… They are brutally honest. i.e. On page 334 they describe Turangi as follows: “Turangi, 50 km south of Turangi is small flat and characterless, planned in the mid 1960s and built almost overnight for workers toiling away at the tunnels and concrete channels of the ambitious Tongariro Power Scheme. It doesn’t even make the best of its location – Lake Taupo is only 4 km to the north and the town centre is separated by SH1 from its trump card, the fishing and rafting waters of the Tongariro River. Nevertheless it is popular with trout fishers, and works as a base for a smattering of sights and activities in the immediate vicinity and for the Tongariro National Park, just beyond the steep volcanic range to the south. It has also become a jumping-off point for the Volcanic Alpine Crossing with hostels offering transport to and from the trailheads…..”
Their biggest obvious mistake is they failed to mention TRM in their recommended motels…? But before you flood TRM with indignation to attack their description of your favourite trout fishing and tramping destination… Believe me, Turangi got off light. Here is the description for National Park: “The evocative moniker attached to National Park, 15km west of Whakapapa Village, belies the overwhelming drabness of this tiny settlement – a dispiriting collection of A-frame chalets sprouting form the scrubby plain of pines, eucalyptuses and flax, with only the views of Ruapehu and Ngaurohoe to lend it grace.”
So we then compared it to Lonely Planet’s description (not their latest issue which is missing?…): “TURANGI pop 3900 Once a service town for the nearby hydro-electric power station, Turangi has blossomed from Taupo’s country cousin into a world-class trout-fishing destination. Turangi is 4 km from Lake Taupo (accessed via nearby Tokaanu), but the Tongariro River is an important body of water for trout. For walkers there’s also access to the northern trails of Tongariro National Park.”
So it will be interesting to read how Turangi will be described in the next edition. Perhaps it’s just as well Boof can’t read.
Tell Maryke (Turangi iSite Manager) we will slip a bottle of best NZ plonk into their unit this morning to try to compensate for the loss of their evening meal and try to influence the next 2011 edition for Turangi.
(Contin… Daily Report from 11 August:)
Tongariro River Motel’s rating in ROUGH GUIDE…
Following the report yesterday – Tongariro River Motel were mistaken. TRM definitely were included in the last issue of Rough Guide – the UK based tourists guide book.. Yesterday TRM commented about such an unfortunate omission in the 2008 issue but we now stand corrected and apologise to The ROUGH GUIDE. So we confirm it is such a wonderful informative guide book after all. We were not aware that TRM had been listed in the later (2010?) version. In case you missed it, we repeat it as follows:
“Tongariro River Motel SH1 & Link Rd. ph 0800 187 688, www.tongarirorivermotel.co.nz.
“Simple but comfortable motel that’s hugely popular with fishers, partly for its rod racks and smoker, but mainly because of the ebullient owner, Ross, who runs a lively website on everything to do with Turangi and trout fishing in particular.”
What can we say?
Thank you Rough Guide…
They are soooo modest.
Then we have the feature article “TROUT TOWN casts a line FOR TRAMPERS” from the January 2010 Wilderness magazine by hard hitting Hawkes Bay journalist, Pippa Brown, as follows: (The full article can be read on the TRT (Tongariro River Trail) website – click on Tongariro Alpine Crossing heading and drag to Tongariro River Trail heading above…)
“The summer heat roasts this little town, nestled under the cloak of Mount Pihanga at the head of Lake Taupo. Slowly it bakes brown before yawning into autumn. The deciduous trees deepen in colour casting a vibrant pallet of earthy hues across the land. Lying at an elevation of 350m, winters are harsh. It’s not unusual to walk out and snap the panes of ice that sometimes lie on the ground all day.
Every day nearly 5,000 vehicles pass through, the occupants may get a fleeting glance of the river below as they cross the bridge into town. Beneath flows the mighty Tongariro, its virginal waters sourced from snow-fed springs and filtered through alpine herb fields and ancient forest. It sparkles, bubbles, swirls and chatters – mystifying anglers and soothing souls. At times, angry, as it snarls and bites at its banks chewing through the land. It’s the raison d’etre, the reason for being, why thousands of anglers come to fish this world-famous river. It’s also the reason why this town exists.”
What composition!
What a wordsmith…
Such poetry…
Beautiful verse…
All absolutely true…
And we are not even biased…
x TRM Daily Report for 31 May 2012
Fishing Report on Nirvana(?)
(Image above of severe rush hour traffic congestion on Taupahi Road outside TRM)
Recent magazine feature articles have examined population growth trends in NZ asking just how big is big enough? Quite right too. These include North & South magazine (available at TRM) and now growth is being questioned in an editorial in a fishing magazine? Now even anglers are concerned…
After watching NZ’s population double over the last 50 years SWMBO thinks She understands your deep concern. But what to do? Here we can offer TRM’s solution to the problem.
For anglers, and everyone else similarly confirms, all population growth has achieved is to double the problems, and halve the benefits.
i.e. Since I started fishing the Tongariro the maximum daily catch reduced from no limit to 21 to 10 to 8 to 3. Amazing!
DAILY BAG LIMIT
1926 – 25
1950 – 6
1953 – 8
1960 – no limit
1963 – 21
1971 – 10
1980 – 8
1991 – 3
2014 – ? (To be advised)
(See, this really is a fishing report…)
The bulging demographic profiles of cities and their lack of progress over the last hundred years – where quality of life has been compromised for growth and quality in anything replaced by quantity – makes everyone nervous about the future.
So this is a reminder from TRM that if you try you can still find Heaven on Earth.
You are so quick – I can see you have already selected the same location as us to achieve “Nirvana” (defined in my Reed dictionary as a state of extreme bliss or enlightenment).
TURANGI (Where else?)
How? Can you believe this is the only town which has reversed the national trend purely in the interests of anglers.
Turangi town centre was designed in the 1960′s to service a local resident population of up to 10,000. The peak population was about 6,500 in the mid 1970′s. Since then it has fallen to less than half its peak.. Over a 15 year period up until the last official census in 2006 – the resident population fell 16%. In the same 15 year period the NZ population increased 19%.
According to SWMBO’s “new maths” arithmetic (She was a teacher), that places Turangi 35% behind the rest of NZ in population growth but 35% ahead in benefits.
(SWMBO suggests there are three kinds of people in the world; those who are good at maths, and those who are not…)
So while the rest of the world struggles to keep pace with growth, congestion, pollution, traffic, overcrowding, we Turangians – the enlightened ones – have halved our population and doubled our benefits. Simple!
Have a nice day….
Daily Report for 21 March 2013:
Units for Sale
(Images on right of TRM’s security team)
This week observant regular readers will have noticed TRM’s not-very-subtle efforts to distract and divert their attention to all the other interesting fishy info available on TRM’s website… It reads more like a fly fishing club newsletter.
Monday listed TRM (Tongariro River Motel) fishy lending library.
Tuesday listed the F&G Guide Brochures and maps available.
Wednesday listed the fishy info provided under the “RIVER INFO” and “CURRENT ISSUES” headings.
So today, without even trying to disguise our commercial motivation, we direct you to the heading above “UNITS FOR SALE”. Why?
Recently TRM Daily Reports have reluctantly commented on an unfortuante string of burglaries to nearby holiday homes. These have been confined to properties east of SH1 in Taupahi Road along the banks of the Tongariro River. These unacceptable incidents have been very disturbing to holiday property owners and locals as they may provide a false impression of what our part of Turangi is really like.
Under the “UNITS FOR SALE” heading above is a brief physical description of our little slice of ‘Nirvana’, but following these break-ins the local holiday housing security situation needs more elaboration. This little leafy part of Turangi, east of SH1, really is a wonderful place… particularly for fly fishos. For residents it really is as close to heaven as we can get. We have told you all that before… Until now.
Now, suddenly we have experienced more destructive break-ins in 2013 than in the previous nine years. Indeed, a neighbour who has lived nearby for 21 years and owned property in Taupahi Road since 1974, suggested he has known crime waves but this is more like a tsunami… Hence the need for more explanation. We know from the nature of the burglaries and the finger-print evidence it is a few local errant kids looking for trouble. They sure have an attitude problem. Unfortunately they have not been apprehended yet but the police know who they are so hopefully it is just a matter of time.
We also know of retirees who have lived here for many years who have never locked their doors yet. That is because they live here and their neighbours live here and their houses are exposed to neighbours and are always occupied. Regretfully the easier vacant holiday homes have been targeted by young thieves. This is not just confined to Turangi. It is a common problem at other similar holiday resort locations throughout NZ – indeed, throughout the world. That reflects the modern world we live in. But there is hope…
We think TRM may have a solution for those who are interested in finding a holiday home as a fishing base here, if they could overcome the property security and management issues. So here is TRM’s quirky remedy…
Before settling here, during the 1990′s we also looked at many properties in Turangi where we were naturally concerned about property security and management issues if we owned a house here to be used for fishing trips only. Eventually the Tongariro fishing won. We gave in and made the best decision in our lives. We took the life style plunge to retire (?) and live here permanently (only to try to satisfy SWMBO’s fishing ambitions – you understand) at TRM. The master plan was to sell off individual units and to build some more for other like minded anglers. Then they too would have a worry free fishing base for their holidays whilst we could manage them in their absence. Hence the security issues solved…
But it wasn’t quite that easy. It never is… In 2003 we advertised the concept and signed up seven units before the motel purchase went unconditional. Then during the two years it took to subdivide into individual titles the real estate market collapsed and we lost all but two of the prospective buyers… Also the 16 individual titles resulted in grossly excessive council rates so the titles were quickly amalgamated back to a single, more affordable title. And that is the position today.
So if you are considering a holiday home in Turangi and are discouraged by local security issues then this concept may be a suitable compromise. Then you can still enjoy your fishing holidays in extremely well managed fully furnished units operated by SWMBO, receive any surplus rents – i.e. room rates less operating expenses – and the management and security issues are overcome. Just an idea…
We must not forget to mention the dedicated TRM Security team – Boof & Pumpkin, pictured above.