Above: TRM’s luxury classic vintage taxi unloading at Taupo Airport.
TRM’s manager – SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) – thanks everyone for their kind concern and good wishes as She recovered from her injury late last year and is now back in full control for 2018. Her elderly frail assistant was banished to the laundry again but every now and then he manages to escape – providing he can justify his trip to SWMBO.
Lately he has been fortunate to include several trips with inmates in TRM’s taxi, “BENY” – see image above. So, just as you suspected from the images, this fishing report is really a sneaky “advertorial”. But every now and then anglers need reminding of why TRM is so popular. i.e. February is already booked up and we have had to decline or defer some bookings (March is looking better for fishos) as we are struggling to fit in with anglers travel plans. So why is it soooo popular? (This was originally prepared for a fishing club from West Island)
TRM is not the flashest most modern motel, but it is set up to provide for anglers requirements. In SWMBO’s opinion, tourists figure well behind anglers on guest rating scales. That is the essential difference. Why? How? Only fishing folk appreciate all the additional features that only TRM has made available for anglers.
Following are a few of the distinctive advantages that you will just not find anywhere else. These need to be elaborated as no other motel would ever have so much invested towards improving inmates Tongariro Trout Fishing visits.
Most of these have minimal added value for tourists but anglers satisfaction is what TRM are all about. This is obvious by this motel blog prepared for the last 13 years to provide inmates with up-to-date fishy reports.
Why does SWMBO target anglers? For TRM they are simply the best category of guests. They are wonderful inmates, usually mature and responsible as their passion – fly fishing – creates and influences disciples to have a more reasonable tolerance and much more even temperaments. This spills over to how they appreciate and treat their accommodation. SWMBO has no doubts about this. (She might be wrong but She is never in doubt…)
The difference is the mighty Tongariro River which provides such a splendid all year wild trout fishery, they have to return again and again.
SWMBO has it all worked out. I suspect She feeds the trout as the last season has been the best this century.
To fish the Tongariro properly they have to stay far longer than common garden variety tourists.
If they are intending to return then they are instinctively more sensitive about leaving their rooms tidy, dishes done, etc. which does not go unnoticed, so they earn SWMBO’s “brownie points” which often result in surprisingly generous discounted room rates when they return.
Everyone wins!.
Comparatively tourists stay usually only once for shorter periods and are only interested in the lowest room rates, but do not factor in all the other little surprises – i.e.
It starts inside the units where the first noticeable difference are little embellishments like the rod racks – seriously, what other motel would bother with such trifling improvements. Anglers love it.
As they stay longer every unit has full size ovens and microwaves and with fridge freezers in the two bedroom units.
Then outside is the usual DIDYMO warnings and bottles of detergent for cleaning their gear. This illustrates a tiny but very important sense of conservation responsibility to help keep the Tongariro 100% pure.
Every unit has under cover parking and free guests laundry (includes washing powder) and fish cleaning station and commercial sized smoke house (free dried Manuka chips) – all included in the room rates as well.
Then there are the bikes – free for guests. Of course tourists also want them to do a loop of the Tongariro River Trail nearby, but they are really provided and set up for anglers with rod holders and pannier bags (supplied with fish bags) to provide easier access to those Tongariro Pools that are almost too far for them to walk – Kamahi, Stag Pool, Cattle Rustlers, etc. It is usually the trip back to TRM that is more difficult when they might have to carry their day’s catch.
TRM has an extensive anglers’ trout fishing library with magazines in every unit. In reception are many of the informative Fish & Game maps for North & South Islands, maps of this region to cover other less popular rivers such as Wanganui, Whakapapa, Mohaka, etc. There are even vices and all the gear for those preferring to tie their own flies.
In reception are many other little additional accessories available just-in-case, such as spare fishing gear – rods, reels, lines, waders, flies, wading poles, plus all the other accessories and fishy stuff that anglers need but often forget or lose.
SWMBO tries to provide for every contingency.
Next are more major accessories such as the specialist rafts for Lake Otamangakau.
There are three single person “water-striders” and a larger two person yellow version – see image – donated by a kind inmate, now retired (Thanks Doug), so we can provide guiding tuition on Lake O.
Naturally these are not just for anyone. For guests’ safety purposes they have to be restricted to regular known inmates with a long solid reliable track record at TRM.
Have a peep at the short demonstration video of Stuart Nicol below as he shows how easy they are to use.
Long after when their knees and ankles have failed their “used-by” dates for safely negotiating the river stones on the Tongariro River access tracks, these rafts allow them to continue trout fishing, despite limiting physical restrictions. Often their fishing results even improve.
The rafts are so important to extend their fishing lives and keep young at heart… so SWMBO invested in three water-striders to satisfy the demand. For some older anglers the rafts were the main point of difference and their main reason for staying at TRM. But now TRM has another incentive accessory – our luxury vintage airport taxi. SWMBO insisted on it…
This is TRM’s biggest investment to achieve an unbeatable competitive accessory advantage. No other motel, not even exclusive up-market resorts like Huka Lodge, can hope to compete with our classic vintage airport taxi. But there are sound practical reasons (if only to convince SWMBO) why TRM appear so generous in their additional accessories.
First the basic necessity – as there is no taxi service available in Turangi. Many overseas anglers fly in to Taupo and need transport to Turangi. It is too difficult and expensive to get a bus to Taupo and then another bus or taxi to Turangi. So TRM provide an exclusive pick-up and return service to Taupo Airport with some added style…
Also there is the image of luxury which enhances TRM’s star rating – not that anglers care…? This might be a bit of a myth as the taxi is over 30 years old, but that just adds a bit of distinctive style. TRM is over 50 years old so the motel taxi appears quite modern. So if you plan to arrive at Taupo airport then remember there is only one motel in the region that can provide their own airport taxi service. Last and most important – it allows me to escape the laundry.
And we have not even mentioned the fishing…