Maori Experience Rotorua
You’ll know you’ve arrived in Rotorua when your nostrils detect that distinct sulphuric smell that pervades the city. Some say that it smells like rotten eggs, the locals don’t love you mentioning it (you get used to it if you stay a week or more), but we say that the smell is a small price to pay when you get to see some really unique geothermal attractions including spouting geysers, bubbling mud pools, and hissing fumaroles. Rotorua is also home to many Māori cultural experiences, and it is here that you’ll experience a pōwhiri – a traditional Māori welcoming ceremony.
NEW ZEALAND’S MOST DYNAMIC GEOTHERMAL HOTSPOT
Set within an active geothermal field that includes Taupō and Tongariro National Park, Rotorua is one of the few places in the world where extraordinary geothermal phenomena is the norm. Aside from the star attractions that we’ll take you to (including spectacular hot springs known to the Māori as ‘Sacred Waters’, and a legendary geyser that erupts to a height of 30m), you might also notice steam wafting from drains and mud boiling in public parks – and that’s okay! Just be sure to watch where you walk as you encounter these hot and steamy attractions.
MĀORI CULTURE, ARTS & HOSPITALITY
Māori have lived in this region since the thirteenth century and made great use of the naturally heated waters and earth around the region to cook, bathe and warm themselves. Rotorua is rich in Māori history and folklore and we will take some time here to visit the home to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute where we’ll also be treated to an impressive cultural performance and take a tour of an authentic pre-European village.
THE TOWN BUILT FOR ADVENTURE
Rotorua is unique in New Zealand as it was built on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua by the government in the 1880s to cater to the tourists visiting the thermal springs in the area and ‘taking the waters’. Over the years, the town has extended its offerings by catering to the adventure seeker and mountain bike enthusiast. Aside from admiring all the volcanic and geothermal wonders and getting an insight into Māori culture, you can also speed down a hill in a luge, roll down a hill in a giant inflatable ball, go white water rafting over highest commercial waterfall drop in the world, try river sledging or thread your way through a giant redwood forest on mountain bike trails. There are numerous activities for every type of tourist to include in their Rotorua holiday package. Although we do not offer a full Rotorua tour package from Auckland, many of our tours stop here for two nights, allowing guests more time to fit in all the activities they can manage.
TRACKS BUILT FOR BIKERS
Surrounded by mountains, crystal clear streams, native forests and 18 freshwater lakes Rotorua is the perfect place to have a two-wheeled adventure and reconnect with nature – and then relax tired muscles in a geothermally heated hot spring! Recognised as a mountain biking mecca with around 130km of world-class mountain bike trails that are also used for the annual Crankworx, MTB fans love riding through Rotorua’s forests and amongst active geothermal fields.
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Photo Credits: Rotorua NZ
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