[Natalieb]

Has anybody been to this area and knows what its like? We have an employer who is pretty interested in us, fingers crossed.

Its looks quite a small village but think there are two schools which is good, plus reasonably priced rental opportunities.

The population is roughly 4300 and rises to 17,000 in the tourist season! WOW. All for water sports, fishing, walking.

Cheers Natalie

[Kim39]

Turangi is just on the tip of the desert road south of Taupo. Can't really make much comment on the place, but we passed through last year in summer and it seemed small and quiet, but bear in mind that when the snow hits that area in winter you'll know about it as the place becomes busy with truckers who are stranded on that side of the desert road.

Am aware it is a good place for your outdoor things though. Employer interested eh, just what type of employment is your OH doing, as i say again the place looked dead, and by the looks didn't seem to be the place where us immigrants would settle.

Kim

[katandbob]

We would have loved to have settled in Taupo, but the surrounding places looked very small, as Kim said.

The houses in Taupo were around $300,00+ and the jobs seemed to be mostly tourist based.

But it was a beautiful place! we spent 3 days there in June.

Kat

[Nelsonian]

Hi - I stayed in Turangi for a few days to do the Tongariro Crossing earlier this year and, although the surrounding country is beautiful, I found the village/town itself pretty grim - grey concrete "new town" feel (like Hulme before demolition!) - not much going on - state highway cuts services off from the nicer housing near the river.
It would feel very small after Manchester - although not a long drive around the lake to Taupo and some nice little place on the way. Could live nearer Taupo and not have too long a commute.
More info at
http://www.laketaupo.co.nz/turangi.htm
Rough Guide calls it "a small flat charcterless place planned in the mid 1960s and built almost overnight for workers toiling away in the tunnels...of the ambitious Tongariro Power Scheme......"
Hope useful - Jane

[b&k]

I'd agree with the posts above. I spent a few days in Turangi earlier this year and can say that it is very quiet and there is little to do. The town centre is a collection of concrete box shops which don't sell much.

Turangi is at the southern end of Lake Taupo which means you have access to the lake which is good for watersports (although most operators are based in Taupo or round the east side of the lake off of the highway.

Taupo is a more interesting place with more going on. It's the biggest town between Rotorua and Palmerston North but it's still only about 30,000 people. The drive from here to Turangi is about 40 minutes round the winding highway one. The lake is beautiful and the views across to Tongariro on a clear day are fabulous. However, this area gets quite a lot of rain (Turangi more so than Taupo) as the high plain of Tongariro forces the prevailing westerly clouds up causing them to precipitate.

If you were to live in Taupo, it's only about an hour to Rotorua which, while not being a shopping mecca, is a reasonable size. For serious shopping, you would need to go to Tauranga which is about 2 hours north.

Turangi is famous for its trout fishing. This and as a jumping-off base for Tongariro is the main reason for going here.

Have a look at this link which has some more info:

http://www.laketaupo.co.nz/turangi.htm

Hope this info helps.