Delightful photo above of a Turangi kennel club meeting. Can you count seven dogs? This well-known seat, located opposite below the Major Jones Pool, is often referred to locally as the Courtney Place bus stop. When anglers sit there to chat and lie about their success rate, the passing tourists often ask “Caught any?” Local humour… That photo was taken about 14 years ago and chosen to compare the scenery opposite to 2025 .

The next photo above was in January 2018 when the stony beach was still much the same. Over the years, it has slowly and steadily reduced in size as the flow has changed the pool.

The reason it has been posted is to compare the far bank (TRB) of the Tongariro River today. Note the wide stony beach of the bottom of Major Jones Pool that extended down river level with the seat, has now been eroded away.

The next 2019 photo above illustrates when the river is in flood there is no beach at all. During a good flow, the boulders are rolled over and ground down to pebbles and eventually sand as the force of the river grinds them down.

The photo above was taken from the TRB (True Right Bank) looking down river this morning. The stony beach has gone…

The next photo above is of the swing bridge was dated Feb 2004 when we arrived in Turangi. The damage to the bridge indicates how high the river rose – over 2400 cumecs. The stony beach on the TRB has also now gone. This continual changing contour is typical throughout the river. The height of the swing bridge can just be seen in the distance above the Breakfast Pool. Mature trees get swept down in the current, often still standing upright, so the branches tangle with the bridge

The changing contours add a lot of interest, or frustration, to challenge anglers as they have had to adjust their thinking over the years. They learn how to fit their gear to the changing current and depth continually. Sometimes there are so many alterations to make, it is like experiencing a new river. Some naturally return to the same stone where they hooked a whopper on their last visit only to discover the pool has gone and the fish now hold 100 metres further up or down river. Those anglers that fail to adjust usually struggle to understand why everyone else is hooking up. It is all part of the magic of the Tongariro.

Despite the flood damage, the native bird life survives. If you look carefully, there are four supposedly rare and protected Blue Ducks hiding amongst the carnage. Photo below was taken below the Major Jones Pool to illustrate how high up the banks the recent 700 cumec floods reached.