Thank you to many TRM inmates for all the encouraging messages of goodwill and cheerful support received lately. It is so amazing to greet inmates who have been returning again and again for so many years. We feel very fortunate and thank you all for your loyalty. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed manages everything She sees at TRM) imagines it is Her sweet charm but I suspect the splendid trout fishing might have more to do with maintaining their loyalty.

It has been a funny old year. No two seasons are ever the same at TRM but 2024 has provided more surprises than usual. In Turangi the lingering Covid effects forced some tourist motels to give up and convert to rental flats. Others have been renovated i.e. changed from time-shares to motels, so overall Turangi and TRM survived surprisingly well.

During Covid’s economic strain, TRM was forced to innovate more than usual to continue as a motel. TRM’s lesson has been to end each year seeming how to survive the next year’s challenge.  We are lucky that long-term TRM inmates are extensions to our “family” as friends who have shared the changing times with us. We acknowledge them all and are extremely grateful as very few motels could hope to match such lengthy guests’ support.

TRM was the first motel in Turangi and has survived for over 65 years. It started in late 1950’s as a village shop with owner accommodation (now Units 1, 2 & 3) and a caravan park. My introduction to Tongariro trout fishing was from our fishing base in the third caravan – see photo below – now an adjacent townhouse. More land was added for “Link” (now Piri) Road and motel units were added when the new SH1 was developed. We can reflect on the changes with the wonderful benefit of 20 years of hindsight. When we took over the management in 2004 there were no booking-dot-com type booking systems, no email, computers were in their infancy, no Facebook, AI was unknown, and we had no experience operating a motel. All we were certain of was that the trout fishing was world-class! It was a very different environment. When SWMBO took over, a studio unit cost $55/night and every unit was stocked with candles to provide for regular power blackouts.

Economically our timing was dreadful as it coincided with a downturn in the Taupo fishing. Fishing licence sales fell and TRM’s % occupancy followed. Several attempts to redevelop failed. Yet somehow, despite us, TRM survived. A part of the reason was the introduction of a website daily fishing report to communicate with anglers who developed a strong base of regular fisho clients. The main reason was the sneaky power takeover by SWMBO. So it was never planned like modern tourist accommodation blocks but gradually “growed like Topsy”, making TRM’s survival even more remarkable. For this, we must thank you all! We are humbled by our patient partners and inmates who have all been so supportive.

Fortunately, the recent trout fishing results for TRM inmates continued to improve during the last two seasons (together with our occupancy rates) since Covid. We cannot explain why. It all reflects the food chain out in Lake Taupo must have remained constant for the last 3-4 years. Our best barometer is from guests returning when they book again for 2025. That says it all.

Another popular enquiry was questions about our attempts to redevelop the 65-year-old motel. The plans and proposal are still at the discretion of some negative Toe Paw council planners who continue questioning and delaying our architect’s resource consent applications. Where will it end? It appears that anything we propose is incompatible with Turangi’s residential zoning. Innovative apartment concepts are not allowed in Turangi. (A precedent may have been set previously by a commercial retail proposal rejected by Council on the corner of SH1 where Parklands Motel is located.)

The development is not just a recent desperate inspiration. TRM’s swimming pool was filled about 15 years ago for new development. After so many rejections, one can only imagine that the Council’s planners do not want Turangi to prosper. We now understand why other similar small towns stagnate. Turangi has so much going for it but lacks any Council leadership to make it happen. The continued delays were disappointing as we tried to find a solution.

The extra time this has taken coincides with SWMBO and Her increasingly frail laundry assistant both turning 80, having “retired” here over twenty years ago. So, our future tenure at TRM might become based more on a medical survival decision than a planning option. It is no longer a joke when SWMBO is referred to as “managing everything” as I am being forced out. Luckily She thrives on the challenge.

This experience of getting a little older threw in a few curly personal incidents for me as well. My explanation is also inspired recently by another dedicated fishy inmate in his “seasonal greetings” message when he described the added stress of retaining his driving licence following two replacement knees after turning 80. As others I know have recently been through the same drama, this is another warning to anglers…

My application to extend my unblemished licence was rejected due to what is medically known as a suspect dodgy ticker (?). The doctors used my medical history of slipping over too often while wading the Tongariro River – which made me retire from fishing – as evidence. Even though their consultants (?) could not find anything wrong, they decided my heart condition was too risky. Four replacement ankles over the last twenty years were not considered as a contributing factor to limiting my mobility. Thousands of km biked cross country to keep fit during the previous 18 years was not factored in. I pleaded that my falls were entirely due to swollen ankles restricting my flexibility but they disagreed. The final indignity was when I bought an Apple watch to replace them and suggested my technology was ten years ahead. 

When I referred my situation to Dr. Google, I discovered to my horror that swollen ankles were a common side effect of blood pressure pills which the pill merchants had been prescribing for over twenty years. So in the end I dismissed them all, cancelled all pills, and invested in Dr. Apple watch to warn and record any heart irregularities. Meanwhile, what a surprise, my ankles recovered. So who knows, I might apply for new fishing licences again in 2025… if I survive that long without their precious pills. Fortunately, I can easily stroll to the Tongariro. So the message from 2024 is – Never give up!

One of the surprising memories we did not expect to still enjoy in 2024, (and 2023 & 2022 for that matter) was the continuing demand for the TONGARIRO Skulduggery “mockumentary”. There are only a few left from the final print run four years after being published. It has been amusing to watch so many start reading the book in their units and then have to buy a copy to discover what happened in the DNA plot. Profit from the book is now evident to anglers walking along the TRB (True Right Bank) of the lower Tongariro River.

That’s a wrap. Wishing everyone a happy relaxed safe holiday and all the best for 2025.

Pip & Ross