(Above is well known biking journalist, Pippa Brown, enjoying the views on the T2T at Taupo)

The consultations with land owners along the proposed route of the Taupo to Turangi (“T2T”) bike trail are now taking place.

The T2T project aims to rediscover many of the ‘forgotten’ historical idylic lake side holiday villages on the route as destinations for cyclists, similar to the way the Otago Rail Trail revitalised small South Island towns along that route.

The same experience of commercial revitalisation can already be seen in other small North Island towns on established bike routes such as at Paeroa and Waihi where a host of new cafes etc. are evidence of the popular support for bike trails.

Almost 60 km link will be required to complete the T2T trail for bikers and hikers.

The Bike Taupo Chairman Rowan Sapsford has high hopes for the trail and says it could become one of the most iconic in NZ.

TRM goes further than him to say it will become the most popular in NZ..

Destination Great Lake Taupo General Manager Damian Coutts said the trail will be designed to be traveled over one to three days which will allow smaller towns on the route to get a fair slice of the pie.

These include all those cute little historic Maori lake side settlements from Taupo including Waitahanui, Hatepe, Motutere, Waitetoko, Te Rangiita, Oruatua, Motuoapa, all of which will need additional cafes and restaurants and tourist accommodation to cater for biking tourists.

Turangi will benefit with the increase in demand resulting in local property prices soaring to Auckland levels – according to Turangi investment consultant SWMBO…

Every day Turangi/Tongariro tourists ask how to get to the lake.  For Turangi the bike trail will provide a long awaited physical link directly to Lake Taupo.

Tourists will then be able to plan bike rides between such popular destinations as from Huka Falls to the Trout Centre.  Further north Turangi will then be linked with the popular Waiakato River trails.

This T2T trail is long overdue.  It is so obvious.  Compared to some other bike trals like 42nd Traverse and Timber Trail, it is such a beautiful natural setting.  It will soon be on everyone’s bucket list.

Guest bikers confirm to SWMBO that far too many of the Government funding for bike tracks has gone into more physically testing remote trails which families and tourists cannot get to or even locate.

i.e. the Timber Trail from such booming popular tourist centres like Bennneydale and Ongarue… really only suitable for enthusiastic hard core club bikers and too technical and wearying for the average tourist.  TRM tourists regret that some of the more remote trails have such difficult trail contours and lack any back-up facilities such as accommodation, so unfortunately they defeat the Government purpose of bike trails to cater for tourists.

That will be the big difference with the T2T is that it will be more suitable for family groups just wanting to have some casual recreational fun alongside Lake Taupo – similar to the Tongariro River Trail.  The TRT was originally formed as anglers access tracks across the river for anglers fishing the Tongariro River to access the more remote pools, but they are now greatly outnumbered by tourist bikers.  TRM inmates and tourists tell us the T2T cannot happen soon enough.

Thank you to the Destination Great Lake Taupo team and all others involved.