Geoff Thomas, of Outdoors with Geoff, is selling his Lake Tarawera home. Photo / Supplied
Geoff Thomas is leaving his rainbow trout paradise at Lake Tarawera – but he has a plan to keep getting into the great outdoors.
Thomas, of Outdoors with Geoff fame, has lived at his Spencer Rd home near Rotorua since 2016. As an accomplished fishing guide there he has hosted personalities like actors Larry “JR” Hagman and James Drury of The Virginian, and golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.
The 78-year-old has made the difficult decision to sell and move closer to his two Auckland-based daughters and their families.
“I’ve got to think about where I’m going to finish up.
“My kids have put their hand up and they want to look after the old bloke when the wheelchair arrives and the tubes arrive ... ”
The father-of-five told the Rotorua Daily Post the plan was to sell his Tarawera home, and his daughter would sell her Auckland home.
They would then “look for a little piece of land somewhere out of Auckland with a paddock and a bit of bush and a cottage and a house”.
“I’m going to stay in the cottage and they’re going to look after me, which is quite nice.
“And I’m just going to spend time travelling around the country hunting and fishing ... while I’ve still got my health.”
He planned to set off in his ute with “a couple of big chilly bins in the back” and return with venison and seafood.
Thomas said New Zealand was “paradise if you’re into the outdoors”.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s Fiordland or the Far North ... the best snapper fishing is in the top of New Zealand ... and I’ll be spending a fair bit of time up there.”
Originally from Auckland, Thomas said his family had been coming to Tarawera for three generations. His grandfather bought a house in Waitangi Bay in 1945.
“In fact, he helped put the road in. There was no road.”
He had seen many changes in his lifetime.
“It used to be a gravel road, and we could shoot a deer and shoot a pig and shoot a pheasant ... but now of course, it’s got a tar seal road and a school bus and it’s basically a suburb of Rotorua.”
Thomas said he lived in Rotorua from 1970 to 1990, and spent some time working at the Rotorua Daily Post.
Spanning 35 years, Thomas produced and hosted nearly 500 shows of Outdoors With Geoff, highlighting outdoor adventures at locations across New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and around the world, a Bayleys statement said.
The last episode aired in 2016.
Thomas also wrote 12 fishing and hunting books, hosted a Saturday morning fishing show on Radio Sport for 16 years, started and edited the glossy NZ Fishing World magazine, and was a regular columnist for the New Zealand Herald and Herald on Sunday, it said.
Thomas said he bought the Tarawera house as a holiday home in April 2012. He moved in 2016 after retiring from the show.
“We have entertained a lot of people here ... I love having friends here and taking them fishing.”
Thomas said he had another daughter living in New Plymouth, and a son and daughter in Nelson.
He also had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
“They all love coming here, it’s always been a great family place.”
He planned to spend more time with his family after selling.
Thomas said two Tarawera properties had a stream that ran by them and into the lake. One was in Waitangi Bay, which his grandfather had owned, and the other was Thomas’ home.
He penned the name “Rainbow’s Return” for his home.
“The rainbow trout come up every year from the lake to spawn in the stream by the house ...”
Thomas said he caught a trout the first night at his new home, which was “quite good karma”.
Thomas said he hoped its new owners were interested in fishing.
“It’s a bit of a fish factory here, I’ve set up a table to clean the fish and a safe where I hang the fish ... then I’ve got a big smoker which goes most days.
“I can hopefully help point them in the right direction, which lures to use, and maybe help them catch a fish and they can continue the trout fishing tradition hopefully.”
Thomas’ home at 483 Spencer Rd is being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Rotorua, with offers closing on April 9.
The top three sales in Tarawera since January 2025 were all on Spencer Rd. The highest sold for $1.625m in January 2025, followed by a $1.5m property in September 2025, and a $1.3m in April 2025, according to Valocity.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.