Holiday Greetings from Turangi
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 2025 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 or 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 scheming 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, 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 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 wax candles to provide for regular power blackouts.
Financially, from an investment perspective, our timing was dreadful, as it coincided with a severe downturn in the Taupo fishing industry. Fishing licence sales plummeted and TRM’s % occupancy followed. Several attempts to redevelop failed. Yet somehow, despite us, TRM survived. A critical reason was the introduction of a website daily fishing report to communicate with anglers who developed a strong base of regular fisho clients. That was very innovative back then. But the other reason was the sneaky management 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 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 occupancy rates). 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 2026. That says it all.
Another enquiry concerned our attempts to redevelop the 65-year-old motel. The plans and proposal were rejected by the negative Toe Paw council planners, who continue questioning and delaying our architect’s resource consent applications. They claimed it was not suitable for Turangi. Where will it end? It appears that anything we propose is incompatible with Turangi’s residential zoning. Innovative tourist 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 was 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 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 competent 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 elderly and increasingly frail laundry assistant both turning 81, having “retired” here over twenty years ago. Our future tenure at TRM might depend more on a medical survival decision than on a planned timeline. 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 brought a few personal incidents my way 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… Never give up!
One of the surprising memories we did not expect to still enjoy in 2025, (and 2024, 2023 & 2022 for that matter) was the continuing demand for the TONGARIRO Skulduggery “mockumentary”. There are now only a few left from the final print run five years after being published. It has been amusing to watch so many tourists start reading in their units, only to buy a copy to discover what happened in the DNA plot. Some of the profits are now evident in tourist seating when walking along the True Right Bank (TRB) of the lower Tongariro River. The plan was to invest it in tourist information panels to explain the history of some of the more notable pools, but both Toe Paw Council and DOC refused permission – so far.
That’s a wrap. Wishing everyone a happy relaxed safe holiday and all the best for 2026.
Pip & Ross
