(Make a pot of tea first. It is longer than usual.

TRM’s blogs are intended to focus on trout fishing, but during the busy tourist season, other, more popular holiday activities deserve recognition. During the New Year summer holidays, the Tongariro River Trail experiences heavy foot traffic and may soon require orange cones and passing lanes. So I sneaked down last week before the holiday mobs arrived.

In Turangi, this is our unassuming, small-town rural version of Takapuna Beach or Oriental Parade, so it deserves a dedicated blog to highlight some of the special advantages near the Tongariro River. TRM’s feedback from inmates repeatedly suggests that these small NZ villages possess unique natural qualities that appeal to people, qualities that cities have lost.

To explain, this update offers a brief photo tour of the most popular section in town. Recently, we were surprised by the strong response to photos of the trail on the TRB across the swing bridge over the Tongariro River. This post provides views from the more popular TLB town side.

From TRM, the photos proceed from Te Aho Street car park, where we are in doggy heaven, for a walk along the stop bank on the town side. This links with Taupahi Reserve, a dog exercise park with natural swimming pools in the shallow bypass, public toilets, seating, two petanque courts and a popular outdoor gymnasium. You only need to bring your own towels.

The above family Christmas Day picnic image is typical of others, involving two dogs, several kids, friends and parents, and the rest. Needless to say, this water is as pure as it gets, snow melt off Ruapehu and Tongariro National Park and filtered through natural fauna. The wild trout seen from the banks are the best judges.

The immense size of the log that washed down during last winter’s floods warns of the power of the flow when it becomes violent. A better photo of the Tongariro River recovering from a flood a few years ago shows the clearing of a logjam of snags caught on the supports of the SH1 road bridge, as above, but I digress.

Message for “birders”: The warning sign below is necessary to raise awareness of another special tourist attraction this trail provides and to ask visitors not to disturb rare native whio/blue ducks nesting nearby. This confirms that the natural habitat absolutely meets the requirements. The Whio family photo is from TRM library.

We did not see any blue ducks on this trip, but there are usually several nesting pairs patrolling the stretch from the SH1 road bridge to the Hydro Pool. I doubt if there is anywhere else in NZ where rare wild Blue Duck families can be seen so easily.

Another indication confirming the trail’s unspoilt rural character near Taupahi Reserve is shown in the photo above. Two Asian tourists were eagerly harvesting weeds. They were ‘foraging’ for the naturally grown leafy organic vegetables. The photo’s clarity is deliberately vague to conceal the foragers’ identities to avoid paying koha. They recognised the much higher freshness and quality of produce grown in the wild, and the absence of $ cost made it very competitive.

Then the well-drained raised pumice trail continues heading south towards the Birches swingbridge at the end of Koura Street. On maps, this is often referred to as the ‘Major Jones Bridge,’ but that is misleading as the MJ pool is about 200 m farther downstream on the other TRB side.

Particularly during the cooler evenings, the foot traffic changes character and becomes an extension of a visitors’ kennel club.

Friendly pet dogs provide the perfect excuse for walkers to greet others and make new friends.

They have all met Juno – it is her best time of the day for a swim and doggy socialising.

This popular little seat below the Major Jones Pool is referred to as the Courtney Place bus stop. Whenever anglers stop there for a rest, the walkers passing by greet them with, “Caught any?” Hence the name. Local humour…

The photo of the Major Jones Pool committee meeting on the small seat below was taken about 15 years ago to illustrate how long the dog club has claimed this trail, but since the Covid scare, the number of dogs must have doubled.

Dogs need to be kept under control as occasionally other larger friendly four-legged species share this trail.

Then the tourist trail briefly intersects the residential area. The photo below is intended for the Toe Paw Council’s review to show how the footpath has been bent around the tree. Elsewhere, they have been known to remove mature specimen trees to simplify drainage and footpath design. But on this side of the Tongariro River, shady trees are considered far more critical for keeping the natives happy and maintaining Turangi’s natural character. What a great place to live!

Continuing south along the stop bank, the trail passes the Breakfast Pool steps heading towards the Birches swingbridge. The stop banks were developed higher after the last big flood in 2004.

The original angler access trails were built by local prison labour over 100 years ago and have largely been maintained by the other DOC (Department of Corrections) ever since. About 15 years ago, when TRT access was being negotiated, they offered to extend the trail further south to link with the Poutu Dam on Kaimanawa Road, but the Toe Paw Council ignored the opportunity. That is another story that should be told…

Despite being elevated high above normal flow, the bridge was still struck by floating trees swept down in the 1958 flood and was restored soon after. The last major flood in 2004 also resulted in bridge damage – below… These 70-year-old bridges, which were built by CMT (Compulsory Military Training) 18-year-old soldiers who camped on the reserve without a Council Resource Consent (!), are to be replaced in 2026.

Another identical swingbridge was erected higher above the river at the Red Hut carpark, about an hour’s walk south, to complete the loop link.

Beyond the swingbridge, the walking/biking/angler access track continues south toward the Hydro Pool, where another loop trail branches off as the Waikari Loop Track for those whose dogs still have more energy to work off. The Tongariro River Trail follows the river south past the National Trout Centre, then crosses back over the river at Red Hut to provide the essential loop trail.

Full credit for this loop trail goes to a local anglers’ group, the Advocates for the Tongariro River, who organised the link about 15 years ago.

Other city doggy walks such as Takapuna Beach or Oriental Parade cannot compete with this for such relaxing natural surroundings, complete with a choice of swimming pools? You owe it to your dog!

To view the trail, heading further south, heading to Wellington, about 11 years ago, Murray (a regular tourist inmate from West Island) and Kiki (TRM’s Swedish housekeeping staff) posted their version by biking and trout fishing up to Red Hut. They confirmed we live in paradise.

The other ‘special’ feature along this riverside walkway, often overlooked, is the native bird life. Instead of cheeky squawking crapping seagulls, the Tongariro environment attracts other more attractive native species who have rejected the city environment, ranging from bellbirds to tuis to quail to our favourite fantails. Most days, they will serenade you along the trail. True!

Oh Dear – I forgot to mention the fishing…