Sights in Rotorua
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Tamaki Maori Village
An established favourite, Tamaki does an excellent twilight tour to a marae (meeting house) and Maori village 15km south of Rotorua. Buses collect from the Hinemaru St booking office and local accommodation. The experience is very hands-on, taking you on an interactive journey through Maori history, arts, traditions and customs from pre-European times to the present day. The concert is followed by an impressive hangi.
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Rotorua Museum
This outstanding museum occupies a grand Tudor-style edifice. It was originally an elegant spa retreat called the Bath House (1908): displays in the former shower rooms give a fascinating insight into some of the eccentric therapies once practised here, including 'electric baths' and the Bergonie Chair.
A gripping 20-minute film on the history of Rotorua, including the Tarawera eruption, runs every 20 minutes from 9am (not for small kids – the seats vibrate and the eruption noises are authentic!). The fabulous new Don Stafford Wing houses eight object-rich galleries dedicated to Rotorua's Te Arawa people, featuring woodcarving, flax weaving, jade, interactive audiovisual…
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Blue Baths
The gorgeous Spanish Mission–style Blue Baths opened in 1933 (and, amazingly, were closed from 1982 to 1999). Today you can visit a small museum recalling the building’s heyday, with recorded anecdotes and displays in the old changing rooms. If it all makes you feel like taking a dip yourself, the heated pool (adult/child/family $11/6/30) awaits. Ask about occasional dinner-and-cabaret shows (from $125 per person).
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St Faith’s Anglican Church
Ohinemutu's historic timber St Faith’s Anglican Church is intricately decorated with Maori carvings, tukutuku (woven panels), painted scrollwork and stained-glass windows. One window features an etched image of Christ wearing a Maori cloak as he appears to walk on the waters of Lake Rotorua.
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Te Puia
The most famous Te Whakarewarewa spring is Pohutu (‘Big Splash’ or ‘Explosion’), a geyser which erupts up to 20 times a day, spurting hot water up to 30m skyward. You’ll know when it’s about to blow because the Prince of Wales’ Feathers geyser will start up shortly before. Both these geysers form part of Te Puia, the most polished of NZ’s Maori cultural attractions. Also here is the National Carving School and the National Weaving School, where you can discover the work and methods of traditional Maori woodcarvers and weavers, plus a carved meeting house, a cafe, galleries, a kiwi reserve and a gift shop.
Tours take 1½ hours and depart hourly from 9am (the…
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Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, on the eastern side of Te Whakarewarewa, is a living village, where tangata whenua (the locals) still reside, as they and their ancestors have for centuries. It’s these local villagers who show you around and tell you the stories of their way of life and the significance of the steamy bubbling pools, silica terraces and the geysers that, although inaccessible from the village, are easily viewed from vantage points.
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Mitai Maori Village
This family-run outfit offers a popular three-hour evening event with a concert, hangi and glowworm bushwalk. The experience can be combined with a tour of Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park next door, with coloured nightlights and a walk through the kiwi enclosure (four hours total, adult/child 5-9yr/child 10-15yr $125/35/65). Pick-ups available.
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Haiku Pathway
From the information centre you can also explore the Haiku Pathway, rambling along the Uretara River past boulders inscribed with haiku verses.
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Lake Rotorua Foreshore
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Tarawera Falls
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Soundshell
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Okere Falls
The Okere Falls are about 21km northeast of Rotorua on SH33, with an easy track (30 minutes return) past the 7m falls (popular for rafting), through native podocarp forest and along the Kaituna River. Along the way is a lookout over the river at Hinemoa’s Steps.
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Lake Okataina
The area around Lake Okataina offers walks of varying distance and difficulty. One of the most popular − albeit not for beginners − is the Western Okataina Walkway (seven hours one way), which takes in lake views and a dry crater known as the ‘Bullring’. The track runs from Millar Rd at Lake Okareka to Ruato on Lake Rotoiti with public transport past the Ruato end only.
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Tama-te-kapua Meeting House
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Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest
This magical forest park is 3km southeast of town on Tarawera Rd. It was originally home to over 170 tree species (a few less now), planted from 1899 to see which could be grown successfully for timber. Radiata pine proved a hit (as evident throughout New Zealand), but it’s the mighty Californian redwoods that give the park its grandeur today.
Clearly signposted walking tracks range from a half-hour wander through the Redwood Grove to an enjoyable whole-day route to the Blue and Green Lakes. Most walks start from the Redwoods Gift Shop & Visitor Centre, where you can get maps and view displays about the forest. Aside from walking, the park is great for picnics,…
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Ohinemutu
Ohinemutu is a charmingly ramshackle lakeside Maori village that traces the fusing of European and Maori cultures. The historic St Faith’s Anglican Church is intricately decorated with Maori carvings, tukutuku (woven panels), painted scrollwork and stained-glass windows. One window features an image of Christ wearing a Maori cloak as he appears to walk on the waters of Lake Rotorua. Opposite the church is Tama-te-kapua Meeting House, built in 1905 and named for the captain of the Arawa canoe. This sacred meeting house for Te Arawa people is not open to visitors but can be admired from the outside.
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Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, on the eastern side of Te Whakarewarewa, is a living village, where tangata whenua (the locals) still reside, as they and their ancestors have for centuries. It’s these local villagers who show you around and tell you the stories of their way of life and the significance of the steamy bubbling pools, silica terraces and the geysers that, although inaccessible from the village, are easily viewed from vantage points (the view of Pohutu is just as good from here as it is from Te Puia, and considerably cheaper).
The village shops sell authentic arts and crafts, and you can learn more about Maori traditions such as flax weaving, carving, and ta…
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Novotel Rotorua
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Kuirau Park
Want some affordable geothermal thrills? Just west of central Rotorua is Kuirau Park, a volcanic area you can explore for free. In 2003 an eruption covered much of the park (including the trees) in mud, drawing crowds of spectators. It has a crater lake, pools of boiling mud and plenty of huffing steam. Take care – the pools here are boiling, and accidents have happened.
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