When tourist guests (quite distinct from inmates!) ask whether the Tongariro River Trail is safe to tramp (?) we have to check it out. She advised the number of fallen trees made her nervous to continue any further up the TRB past the Mangamawhitwhiti Stream bridge… So Juno’s ‘walkies’ today headed upriver from the swingbridge to where a section of track down to the Hydro Pool has been closed off since the storms last February. For dramatic effect, the photos make it look worse than it is. The main track is perfectly safe. I suspect that was probably far enough for the tourists to walk. They just needed an excuse to return. SWMBO impressed them more when She suggested the damage appeared to be from wild possums wrecking the trees.

The tourists were supposed to be admiring the town pools after they were given top status in the TRM Bucket list for Tongariro River pools. Every pool was occupied this morning in brilliant weather conditions – fine and clear with no wind. The low clear river conditions favoured the trout so SWMBO has done Her rain dance to add more colour and flow for the weekend and the computer has stretched and distorted some photos to enhance the river to appear more interesting. Anglers should still be able to guess which pools…