Researching in Turangi

I’ve spent the last few days researching in Turangi. What details I’m researching, or for what story, I have no plans as yet, but I enjoyed the novelty of wandering around one of many beautiful areas of New Zealand. It made me realise for the umpteenth time, just how lucky I am to live here.

Without heading in this direction on purpose, I am drawn to our bush. I love the idea of using it as a backdrop to my stories, although I’ve only been able to really do so in “Wilderness Liaison” to date. In my current work in progress (WIP) I think I can develop a couple of bush scenes but the setting is predominantly farmland. Perhaps after this story, I can begin another set deep in a generic bush setting somewhere.

Turangi sits at the southern end of Lake Taupo and is renown for trout fishing. Tramping and skiing in the nearby mountains also draws many visitors. While tramping is something I hope to use numerous times within my stories I’m not into fishing at all, so I doubt I’ll be including any fishing tales in my stories, any time soon.

Anyone visiting the area should take a wander through the trout hatchery on the shores of the Tongariro River. Its an interesting place.

I keep telling myself that things and places I research can never be a waste of time. I’m not sure if any of what I checked out in Turangi will ever find its way into a story, but its great to feel I’m still being proactive as a writer while I’m swanning away my time on holiday. Visiting an area, and concentrating on researching whatever might be of interest there, I’m finding I take so much more in, I pay so much more attention to what is around me. Its so easy to walk along a path and see very little. Researching for my stories has made me very aware of the countryside and my environment in general. Now, if only I can find the words to adequately describe all that I see.