Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tokaanu Thermal Pools
HOT POOLS
OFFLINE MAP
(
www.tokaanuthermalpools.co.nz
;
Mangaroa St, Tokaanu; adult/child $6/4, private pools per 20min
$10/6; 10am-9pm)
Soak in thermally heated water at this unpretentious, family-orient-
ated facility, 5km northwest of Turangi. A 10-minute stroll along the boardwalk (wheel-
chair accessible) showcases boiling mud pools, thermal springs and a trout-filled stream.
ABOUT TROUT
Early European settlers, wishing to improve NZ's farming, hunting and fishing op-
portunities, were responsible for the introduction of such ghastly wreckers as pos-
sums and rabbits. One of their more benign introductions was that of trout -
brown and rainbow - released into NZ rivers in the second half of the 19th century.
Today they are much prized by sports anglers, whom you may stumble across
flicking their flies, thigh-deep in limpid rivers or on the edge of deep green pools.
While this pastime, nay obsession, remains a mystery to the authors of this topic, it
is apparent that it brings much unbridled joy and satisfaction to the lives of its pat-
rons. To quote NZ author and poet Kevin Ireland in his illuminating book How to
Catch a Fish,'It has as much to do with simple stubbornness and personal com-
pulsion as it does with any complex notions of happiness and mystical fulfilment.
The last thing to which it has any reasonable relationship is success.'
The Tongariro River is the largest and most important spawning river in the
Taupo district, and well known all over the world for its fish. Tall tales boast of
Taupo trout weighing more than a sack of spuds and measuring the length of a
surfboard. Truth be told, more than 28,000 legal trout are bagged annually, by both
domestic and international fishing enthusiasts.
Trout fishing is highly regulated, with plenty of rules regarding where and how,
and licences most certainly required. Read more at
Fish & Game New Zealand
(
www.fishandgame.org.nz
)
, but our best advice is to seek out a guide. Most offer flexible
trips, with $250 for a half-day a rough ballpark. Local experts include the following:
www.creeltackle.com
; 183 Taupahi Rd)
Fishing equipment, tips, guiding and coffee.
Bryce Curle Fly Fishing
(
07-386 6813;
www.brycecurleflyfishing.com
)
Turangi-
based guide.
Fish Tongariro
( 07-386 7775)
Turangi-based guide, Peter Canziani.
Flyfishtaupo
( 07-377 8054;
www.flyfishtaupo.com
)
Guide Brent Pirie offers a range
of fishing excursions, including seniors-focused 'Old Farts & Tarts' trips.
