The Road to Lake Waikaremoana:
A scenic drive, a necessary journey or an arduous slog?
Why would anyone choose to make a difficult journey longer?
Lake Waikaremoana is a popular tourist destination and a beautiful spot…but, in the words of one visitor, ‘It’s a pig to get to’.
The main road through Lake Waikaremoana stretches from Murupara (north-west of the Lake) to Wairoa (to the south-east); it is narrow, hilly, winding and mostly unsealed. The road was one of the hottest topics of conversation in a recent survey of visitors to the area, and the information collected gives some interesting insights into the way that tourists travel.
Most of the 191 visitors included in the survey took the quickest route from where they stayed the night before their visit to Lake Waikaremoana. Most of them also took the shortest route to their destination after they left the Lake…but 8% of respondents took a longer route either into or out of the area.
Longer but easier…
Although the section of road from the Lake to Wairoa is not easy to drive, it is wider, less winding, less hilly, and more of it is sealed than the road to Murupara. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents who took a longer route than necessary chose to go through Wairoa. In some cases this may have been because they preferred a longer, but easier drive. In addition, just over half of the visitors who chose the easier road were international visitors driving rental vehicles. As well as their concerns over difficult driving conditions, these visitors may have been influenced by restrictions or insurance conditions on the use of rental vehicles on unsealed roads.
This simple explanation does not, however, explain why a few visitors chose to go through Murupara when that was both a longer and a more difficult route than was necessary. All but one of the visitors who drove through Murupara when that was not the shortest route for them drove through Wairoa on the other leg of their journey. That is, they travelled all the way through the region stopping at Lake Waikaremoana along the way rather than entering the region via Murupara and leaving the same way.
Some of the people surveyed after travelling to the Lake from Murupara were surprised at the difficulty of the drive. Some of those who chose to drive the whole length of the road may not have been aware of the condition of the road between Murupara and Lake Waikaremoana before starting the journey. Indeed, people who travelled through Murupara when it would have been quicker to travel through Wairoa had consulted fewer information sources than average while planning their trips.
Stunning scenery
Panekiri Bluff, Lake Waikaremoana
However, a number of people commented on the stunning scenery on the journey into the region, so it appears that some visitors opted to drive the whole length of the road through the region, despite the difficult conditions, so that they could see all that the area has to offer.
Travel in may matter more than travel out
Interestingly, the route through Wairoa was the quickest route for 63% of visitors travelling into the region, but was the quickest route out of the region for only 53% of visitors. This suggests that more visitors travel south to north than travel north to south and that the ease of the journey into the region may be more important in influencing whether people decide to visit than the ease of the journey out. Those coming from the south (where the road towards Lake Waikaremoana is better) are more likely to visit than those coming from the north (where the driving conditions are more difficult).
The survey also showed that those who travelled the length of the road from north to south (Murupara to Wairoa) stayed on average slightly longer than those who travelled south to north (Wairoa to Murupara). Similarly visitors making the return journey into and out of the region from Murupara stayed longer than those making the return journey from Wairoa. This may suggest that people travelling in from Murupara want a longer stay to justify the more difficult entry journey.
Road around bluffs, Lake Waikaremoana
These findings come from a small research study of only one destination. More research is needed to fully understand the implications of driving conditions on destination choice, route choice, and length of stay. However, this study suggests that destination managers would be well advised to consider roading as part of their management decision making.
To read more about Lake Waikaremoana, check out the full study report ‘A profile of tourism in the Lake Waikaremoana region’. The report has short sections on fishing, hunting, horse trekking, kayaking, tramping and other activities as well as accommodation, transport and trip planning. It is available to download (free of charge) from here:
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Author: Helen Fitt, June 2007
Comments and feedback on this Growing Regional Māori Tourism site are welcomed and should be directed to Helen Fitt
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