Rotorua New Zealand

"a world famous resort and an insight into Maori culture"

Rotorua is one of NZ's most popular and longest established tourist areas. Allow at least one full day in the city and surrounding areas, but to take in the best of all the things offering would be at least two full days.

Getting There

By Coach

There's the usual gaggle of one day grab-and-go coach tours from Auckland. You can even pack in the Waitomo Caves and Rotorua on a single day if you want. Better take a video camera so that later you can actually take time to see what you saw.

Two or three day options are easier on the soul.

For more details go to Great Sights or Scenic Pacific.

Driving

Yes, you can drive there and back from Auckland in a single day. It's a 2 3/4 hour drive if you don't make any stops along the way. On the road at say 8am, in Rotorua by 10.45am - just in time for the Agrodome show at 11am. Then a quick snack lunch as you take in Whakarewarewa and Rainbow Springs and you can leave town around 4 or 5 pm to be back in Auckland at 6.45/7.15 pm. But why bother? You'd get more value from spending a good day around Auckland than a made rush round Rotorua like this.

Give the place its proper due and stay at least one night.

There are four routes you can take to get there:

The fast way: This is my recommended way. Via Matamata on SH2, SH27 and SH5. Straight roads. Pretty. And a lot less traffic than SH1 with its accursed diesel juggernauts. Distance 235km. Non-stop drive time 2hrs 30min. A related option is to take the Paeroa-Te Aroha-Matamata route.

State Highway 1: Via Hamilton and Cambridge on SH 1 and 5. Total distance 237km, travel time about 3 hours. But a bitch of a drive from AKL to HLZ because of the traffic on SH1.

Via the Waitomo Caves on SH1, SH3, and SH5. This trip, through Hamilton to Waitomo and across country to Rotorua, can be done in a day - indeed the coach tours do this, see the sights of Rotorua and get back to Auckland in a 12 hour trip. For a one-way drive with the cave tour, allow 6 hours minimum.

Through the Bay of Plenty via SH2 and SH30. Not first choice. But an excellent option as a return trip. Allow 3hrs 30min drive time - plus stops.

Must See Sights

Te Puia at Whakarewarewa. This is a bastion of Maori traditions and skills. It is the pre-eminent Maori cultural expo in the country. There are three parts to the totality:

NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute - If you want to take home some genuine Maori art you can't go past this place. For 38 years, students from tribes across New Zealand have come here to learn traditions - carving and weaving - in danger of being lost forever. You can watch the artisans at work.

Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley. According to tribal history, this was the place where the goddesses of fire, Te Pupu and Te Hoata, emerged from the earth’s core, inhaling and exhaling, creating the geysers, hot springs and mud pools. Some 500 pools and at least 65 geyser vents, each with their own name, are found on this site. Seven geysers are active, the most famous, Pohutu, meaning big splash or explosion which can erupt up to 30 metres high, depending on its mood. Take the tour unguided - or take a guided walk. Your guide will be a direct descendant of the original inhabitants of the area, back through 25 generations to the 14th century. Whakarewarewa is pronounced far-car-ree-wah-ree-wah. Or you could be like most Kiwis and just call it "wokker". Not culturally sensitive - but certainly shorter and easier.

Cultural Performances at Rotowhio Marae. The marae is the traditional meeting place of a tribe. It is where the people return to talk, to sing and dance, to pray, to host guests, to wed, to reunite, to weep for their dead. The midday concerts at Te Puia are an easy and exciting introduction to the culture. Entry is already covered by general admission fees and visitors simply gather outside the main entrance to the marae. A traditional welcome marks the start of 45 minutes of song and dance inside the sacred meeting house. At night the Mai Ora performance combines a hangi (traditional Maori feast) with a song-and-dance cultural performance. The finale is the lighting of the whole Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley.

The Agrodome is a live sheep show which will give you an insight into this vital NZ industry. You can also pump up the adrenalin levels by taking some of their other attractions: The Agrojet, - 450 hp of zero-to-the-ton-in-4.5sec. action - Freefall Xtreme Bodyflying, and Zorbing

At Rainbow Springs huge trout loll lazily in a stream watching the tourists go by. These are not captives in any way - they can return to Lake Rotorua any time they like but they're not that stupid. They are not going to leave a steady supply of tourist tidbits. You'll also get to see the native Kiwi, a national icon. And a tuatara the last of the living dinosaurs.

St Faith's Church and the Tamatekapua Meeting House at Ohinemutu. Superb examples of Maori architecture and ornamentation. On the lake's edge

A Maori hangi (feast) and concert. Several of the hotels in the city have a concert and feast - try The Grand Tiara, or the Royal Lakeside Novotel Rotorua Ph (07) 346-3888. For a visit to a marae as part of the hangi and feast try tourism award winner, Tamaki Maori Village - highly recommended.

Should Sees

If you have the extra day go to the Blue and Green Lakes and the Buried Village. Take a drive along Hongi's Track. Soak away your travel-weary aches at the thermal-fed Polynesian Spa. Take a cruise on the lake aboard the Lakeland Queen Paddle Steamer.

Get lost in a maze - the 3D maze at Te Ngae Park, Te Ngae Rd, 07-345-5275. Adults $6, kids $3 - good fun and cheap too.

Take a Skyline Skyride, a gondola which lifts you 900m up Mt Ngongotaha for a panoramic view of the region. If you want to come down the adrenalin way, ride the luge a gravity slide ride on a specially designed cart (luge). Guaranteed fun for kids of all ages.

Whaka is OK as far as it goes, but some of the many other thermal areas in the region present different forms of thermal activity and it's worth taking the time to see something different. Hell's Gate at Tikitere, Waimangu and Wai-o-tapu.

Which to choose? Any. They are all different. If your next destination is Tauranga, choose Hells Gate - it's on the way. If you are heading for Taupo choose either of the other two or take a complete diversion and go to Orakei Korako on the banks of the Waikato River.

Adventure Activities

Rotorua also has it's share of adrenalin-buzz activities. How about aerobatic flying in a WW2 Boeing Stearman open-cockpit biplane. Call Lakeside Aviation Centre, 07-345-4242. Or in the Red Cat, a Grumman Ag-cat which can take two passengers in an open cock-pit.

Get out on the lake with Hamill Adventures. They have things like kayaks, pedal boats, power boats, and bicycles for hire. They're on the lakefront.

A little less hot-pumpin' action, but no less fun is a tour on four-wheel farm bikes through a working sheep and beef farm and into native bush. Mountain Action, 07-348-8400. Its on the high side of the road as you come in to the city from the west.

Go paddle your own canoe - or have someone paddle in tandem with you - with Kaituna Kayaks. The Kaituna River is ideal for both beginners and experienced paddlers, depending on which stretch you choose. Run by Kenny Mutton who has a lifetime of kayaking experience. World Freestyle Bronze medallist, European Cup Champion 2000 & NZ's No. 1 freestyle paddler for many years. Or with Kaituna Cascades, raft and kayak expeditions, the original Kaituna rafting-kayaking company. Ph 07-345-4199.

Fancy some horse riding: The Farmhouse, Central Rd, Ngongotaha. Ph 07-332-377. The largest horse trekking facility in the country. Ride over farm land and through native bush. Ph 07-332 3771. Or with Mountain Action, 07-348-8400 for a ride to the top of Mt Ngongotaha to get views over the region.

Fishing

If Rotorua is famous for something other than boiling mud pools, it's trout fishing - and for good reason. It vies with Taupo for the title of NZ's premier trout fishing lake. Beginners or experts will do well, but go with a fishing guide - there are large tracts of underwater desert out there quite devoid of fish. Bryan Colman Trout Fishing, Ph 07-348-7766. Clark Gregor Trout Fishing Ph 07-347-1123.

Sightseeing Tours

One easy way of seeing it all with minimum fuss is to hail a sightseeing tour company. Huntaway Tours Ph 349-1581 have a half day tour of key attractions.

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