Previous four TRM reports have listed 40 reasons to visit Turangi and other amazing attractions – such as the most popular one-day walk in NZ (had you noticed it had not been listed?) – still keep emerging.
These were in response to a series of fifty reasons listed to encourage tourists to visit Sweden. Turangi has it all.
41 High Tea has now been replaced – TRM previously suggested this as a special treat, very popular with wives and partners of anglers, to take a trip up to the Chateau on Mt. Ruapehu for their High Tea. A memorable trip back about 70 years to an Edwardian drawing room setting complete with chandeliers and everything you ever imagined a ‘high tea’ might have. Some VIP guests hired TRM’s elderly driver to deliver them in style, in a classic Bentley – to make their visit even more memorable..
41 – The Raised Hackle – A worthy replacement for the obsolete closed-down High Tea is the best restaurant in Turangi and possibly in NZ! Located just out of Turangi in a rural setting off Grace Road, this is an unexpected delight. Great setting, excellent service with a superb selection. So many TRM inmates have praised their ‘shared plates’ as a much more interesting way to dine. Highly recommended.
42 – Five minutes to everywhere – TRM had a special request from anglers from West Island to advise of any facilities within a five-minute walk of TRM, so the following video was prepared specially for them. Later we realised that all they wanted to know was how far to walk to and back from the Tongariro Tavern…
This has been TRM’s most-watched video produced about ten years ago and is now out-of-date with some shops and cafes closed and repeating some of the previous info. Why is it still so popular? Probably due to the choice of toe-tapping local background music – turn the volume up.
43 – Traffic congestion – Turangi does not have this word, or “traffic jam” in their vocabulary. Imagine, no traffic lights. There are no such traffic control devices. To try to look modern there was a taxi stand, but no taxis. The CBD is surrounded by spacious car parks that have never been full in the last twenty years. The nearest we could find to a traffic snarl-up was “grid-lock” on Taupahi Road close to TRM where your usual city driving rules of keeping to the left etc. were completely ignored. Welcome to Turangi Rules. See the photos below for the only examples of severe traffic congestion we could find in Turangi…
44 – Local canine attractions – This is true. Some guests have visited Turangi so they can take their friendly dogs for walkies down the Tongariro River tracks. In larger cities people pay to have their dogs walked… Never in Turangi. There are several large open parks designated as dog exercise areas. Every evening the river walk trail turns into a kennel club.
45 – Tongariro Crossing – How extraordinary to reach Number 45 before listing the most popular one-day walk in NZ. This clearly shows how many other activities take place in Turangi. As it is on everyone’s bucket list we provide a brief “safety” video to warn inmates to be prepared for the alpine weather when some guests climb Mt. Doom (Ngaurahoe). Another warning. If you hope to find yourself (?) or lose yourself (?) in the alpine wonderland, this is not the place. On fine summer weekends or public holidays it gets very crowded. OK?
46 – Stress relief – Have a brief squiz at the horsey photos – there are more horses than scooters or Ebikes in Turangi – please try not to smile while concentrating on your pulse and blood pressure, feeling any city pressure just drift away. That is what Turangi is all about.
47 – Historic sites –
Located on SH 47, Te Porere Redoubt is the site of the historic battle in 1869 between Te Kooti and government troops – the last battle of the Maori wars. After 150 years these man-made fortifications are still in evidence.
The walk to the first redoubt is about ten minutes through scrubby Manuka to the clearing. However, it is well worth the 15-20 minutes uphill through dense bush to the second and more impressive redoubt, where one can imagine the fierce fighting that went on.
48 – Lake Otamangakau – This is the best trophy trout fishing lake in New Zealand and is well-known by most trout anglers. The Fishing & Outdoors newspaper featured an article about a TRM inmate who we called K (for Kayak). After 100 visits to Lake O since 2013, he has landed 629 trout – an average of 6.29 per day. Quite extraordinary when you also factor in that he only goes at peak times over the Christmas and Easter holidays. The short video below was of another inmate, Stuart Nicol from West Island, showing how effective TRM “water-strider” rafts are on Lake O…
49 – Other reasons – Even after reaching fifty we discovered other reasons to visit Turangi, but the most important – the people – are reviewed in the following short video. The strategically convenient location, halfway to everywhere in the middle of the North Island, attracts many folks looking forward to a relaxed affordable retirement. Everywhere else in the North Island is then within easy day-trip distance so they can visit friends and family all over. Then they discover that they don’t have to drive anywhere as the rest of the North Island all want to visit Turangi.
50 – Turangi is an international BOF’s (Boring Old Farts) meeting place. The very nature of trout fishing attracts such a wide range of diverse characters who all have different reasons to follow their addiction/sport/recreation/hobby whatever. Some of the TRM inmates meet here every year on their annual pilgrimage. This was produced a few years ago so apologies to more recent converted disciples who are not included.