At the time we decided to sell the motel the last TONGARIRO Skulduggery books coincidentally sold out, so TRM’s History Consultant, SWMBO, decided there was no point in ordering more.  She was mistaken.

Now we are still here and have upset inmates wanting to buy a copy, so SWMBO has changed Her mind.

Only available from TRM reception at $39 per copy.

Warning: As it was first published in 2020, some of the content might appear to be out of date, but Her evil cunning plot is ageless.

If you stay at TRM there should be a book to read in every room.  Well almost, as some have been “borrowed” but not returned…  That says it all.

To try to clear up the rumours and confusion, we feel obliged to respond to some of the other persistent questions – Q & A below:

Was there a skull at all? No.

Was the side story about the van Dyck self portrait true? Yes.(see photo below)

Was there a “Turangi Treaty”? No.

Did someone really try to burn down TRM’s fence? Yes.

Was Sonny Jim’s car crashed and pushed into Lake Taupo? No.

Did we really receive death threats for posting a Fish & Game public release on the dangers of trout farming? Yes.

Is TRM going to be converted into a retirement village? No. (but watch this space…)

Did the two motel dogs, Boof & Pumpkin, really die by mysterious means? Yes.

Did Sonny Jim move in with the Asian broker Lucy? No.

Is there a TRM Ladies Committee? Yes. A committee of one. She is called SWMBO.

Will there be a sequel? No. But there may be a “prequel”! (More on that to follow)

Is the Tongariro trout fishing as great as claimed? Yes.

Will the next Government cancel the Waitangi Tribunal? Who knows…

Confused? So are we.

Finally, for proof that DNA can be traced over many generations, the following was the inspiration behind the plot – from 8 February 2021…

Beyond coincidence?

Ever since “Tongariro Skulduggery” was published, so many TRM inmates and other readers have doubted, questioned, or even scoffed at the plot, built on the extreme unlikelihood of discovering two identical DNA matches after over 800 years.

Usually, fishos and authors do not reveal the source of our information, but this fantastic story has been questioned so many times that SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), the History Teacher at TRM, realises that more explanation is needed. This revealing post confirms and explains how a similar match has really happened elsewhere after 9,000 years! Such is the miracle of DNA.

For doubters, this blog could be interpreted as a confession of where such an extremely unlikely plot might have come from.

At some time on our big OE in 1972-73 we visited the Cheddar Gorge caves near Bristol in Somerset, UK. – where buried amongst numerous skeletal remains in 1903 they discovered a Mesolithic human male fossil, a complete skeleton discovered at Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, near the village of Cheddar. He is famous for being the oldest complete skeleton ever found in the UK. Radiocarbon dating indicated he died around 7150BC.

At that time, the British Isles were still linked to Europe by marshes, and animals such as wild horses, antelope, and bears lived there, as confirmed by skeletal remains. This is mentioned for all the healthy sceptics out there who question “global warming” – it had started back then.

The archaeologists’ analysis decided he was about 23 when he died from a violent blow to the head, so he may have been murdered. Interestingly, they deduced from the pattern of bone cuts, which matched those on nearby animal bones, that these early ancestors were cannibals. This is also why the “Cheddar Man’ discovery was so valuable, as most other skeletons from the post-ice-age period had been chopped up to suck the marrow.

Then fast forward to the present. DNA’s (deoxyribonucleic acid) double helix had been discovered in the 1950’s. Now, everyone is aware of DNA being used to solve murders, sheep (Dolly) are cloned, and crops are genetically modified. People can now predict personal chances of living a long life or suffering from obesity, demystifying what were matters of providence, fate, or even morality.

In 1997, the Oxford University Institute of Molecular Medicine finally extracted mitochondrial DNA from the molar of the Cheddar Man. Then, after taking swabs from local people, they announced they found a complete match, a blood relation after 9000 years. Perhaps just as remarkable, Adrian Targett was a local history teacher who lived less than a mile from the caves. So suck on that… Tongariro Skulduggery’s DNA plot over 800 years was relatively recent.

The factual basis of the fishy TONGARIRO Skulduggery plot linked together evidence obtained from many other local publications – see below: