Blissful isolation & scenic beauty at lodge

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 318, 19 December 1989, Page 5 (Supplement)

Blissful isolation & scenic beauty at lodge

A couple who live 21 kilometres by jet boat from the isolated settlement of Pipiriki, with no television or telephones, say their lifestyle is "simply bliss."

Ken and Raewyn Haworth run the Ramanui Lodge as well as a jet boat service on the Wanganui river. Both Ken and Raewyn have been associated with jet boat tours for ten years and lived in

the area a happy 19 years. Their jet tours are renown for the scenic beauty they offer, such as at the famous Drop Scene and the 35 kilometre trip up the Wanganui river to the

start of the track to the historic Bridge to Nowhere. They run two day tours on the river which include an overnight stay at the Ramanui Lodge. Shorter tours are available. The lodge itself is

the original farm house of the Haworth's. Ken and Raewyn find summer months in the lodge very busy catering for private and commercial canoe groups, and the Wakapai river trips run by Winstone Oliver on his larger jet boat. The lodge is cut off from the outside world, no phones or television available. There is however a power generator and radio communication. The Haworth family say they enjoy their solitude above Pipiriki.

They occupy possibly the only privately owned piece of land on the park section of the river. They have been

filmed for television programmes Country Calendar and Holiday, capturing their lifestyle away in the wilderness.