Must-see attractions in Bay of Plenty

The steep slopes of 232m-high Mauao swarm with walkers in the morning, when the Mount’s early risers perform their ritual climb to the summit. The ascent…

Mataatua is a large, fantastically carved 1875 wharenui (meeting house) that is the centrepiece of Te Mānuka Tūtahi marae (traditional meeting place). A…

The city's pre-eminent gallery stages challenging exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary work. The building itself is a former bank, though you’d…

Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…

This fascinating aviation museum, beside the airport, is filled with predominantly military aircraft. You can scramble through the living quarters of the…

Around 8km south of town, this verdant 4.5-hectare patch of forest is home to around 1500 varieties of native plants, which can be seen on a 20-minute…

Attached to the library, this impressive museum and gallery has artfully presented displays on early Māori and European settlement in the area. A gourd on…

Hairy Maclary author Lynley Dodd lived in Tauranga for years, and NZ’s favourite literary animals were immortalised in bronze on Tauranga’s wharf in 2015…

Tumbling down the cliffs immediately behind town, tall, skinny Te Wairere occupies a deliciously damp nook. It once powered flax and flour mills, and it…

About 7km south of town, this gorgeous 4-hectare private garden is all aflap with native and exotic bird life. There's 1.5km of paths, looping out to a…

Country-club-like Mills Reef, 7km southwest of the city centre at Bethlehem, has tastings of its award-winning wines. This isn't grape-growing country, so…

Built as a millennium project, this unusual attraction consists of boulders inscribed with haiku verses wending through a pretty park flanking the Uretara…

St Stephen's (1862) is a white wooden Anglican church with a timber-lined interior and tukutuku (woven flax) panels in the sanctuary. Reverend Carl…

Ōpōtiki's museum has heritage displays including Māori artefacts, militaria, recreated shopfronts (barber, carpenter, printer…), and agricultural items…

This shallow, partially collapsed cave once extended 122m into the hillside and was the home of Muriwai, a famous seer and sister of Toroa, captain of the…

On the clifftops behind the town are a pair of ancient Ngāti Awa pā (fortified village) sites – Te Pāpaka (The Crab) and Puketapu (Sacred Hill) – both of…

Beside a roundabout on The Strand is Pōhaturoa, a large tapu (sacred) rock outcrop capped with pohutukawa trees, where birth, death, war and moko (tattoo)…

Housed in a former fire station, this little regional museum displays a selection of Māori artefacts from the local tribe, Ngāi Te Rangi, along with…

This shady little cemetery, overlooking the bridge, has some interesting memorials relating to battles fought between local Māori and government forces in…

Shaded by huge pohutukawa trees, spooky Monmouth Redoubt was originally a Māori pā (fortified village), then taken over and adapted by British soldiers…