Mangatainoka Reserve and Tui Brewery

Our last night on Owen and Helen’s safari was spent camped on the river bank at Mangatainoka Reserve.  (There was another addition to our numbers, Dot arrived after a night away, and brought along her sister Mary.)  This is a very significant stretch of water, in the history of beer brewing.  In 1889 Henry Wagstaff stopped on the banks of the Mangatainoka River to boil up a pot of tea.  The water tasted so good that he decided to build a brewery, and so Tui Brewery began.  All these years later Tui Brewery is still going strong, producing plenty of Tui beer, incidentally, Robin’s beer of choice.

Parked up on Mangatainoka Reserve for the night

While we were camped here, it would be rude not to walk across the road to the famous Tui Brewery, don't you think.  It took us no time at all – the beer drinkers were happy, while others had coffee and hot chocolate.

After our refreshments it was time for a little walk around.  It had obviously been a while since our last visit and we found out that the new brewery building full of shiny vats was erected in 2016.

And here is the famous seven storey brew tower, built in 1931, so brewers could use gravity to turn malt into beer. Strangely, the builders forgot to put in a lift and stairs, and this quirk has only added intrigue to the site’s long history. The tower is now classified as a Category 1 Heritage Listed building and has been earthquake strengthened.  Advertising photos often  show a bevy of beautiful Tui Girls leaning out of the windows, but they weren’t there when we were visiting.  As the evening drew in, and the skies darkened, we could see the tower all lit up across the road from the camp site.

Tui brew tower, afternoon and evening

So, it’s been another day, and another brewery,  GodsOwn and then Tui.  Robin must think he’s died and gone to heaven!