Destination : Rotorua

Rotorua Trip - April 2011

Rotorua, home to the most active geothermal activity in New Zealand, has a lot to offer. From bursting geyser to hot mineral spa pools to adrenaline-pumping activities, Rotorua delivers it all. Remember though that you're in an active geothermal area and sulphur smell constantly hangs in the air, even in the city centre ( a friend of ours described the smell as something like rotten eggs ). Most of the time we don't find them annoying, except a few times when we got closer to the bubbling hot mud pools or Lake Rotorua, where the smell grew stronger. But forget the sulphur smell, Rotorua is a great place for a holiday.

Getting There & Getting Around

Rotorua can easily be reached by car, coach or airplane. We don't have a car so cross off the first choice. Airplane will definitely cost more and the airport is quite far from downtown. So we chose to travel by coach ( found a good deal at InterCity ), departing from Sky City which is just 15 minutes by foot from our place downtown. 4 hours later the coach dropped us off at Tourism Rotorua / i-Site which is at downtown Rotorua, a great place to start our journey.

Being a small town, almost everything is within walking distance from downtown. Lines of restaurant on Tutanekai St, shopping district along Tutanekai St and Hinemoa St, and lots of touristy spots can be easily reached by foot. If it's too far to walk, you can always take the bus, reasonably priced at NZD 7.2 for a day pass ticket. However, note that the bus service doesn't run on public holidays!

The Accommodation

Whether you're looking for budget backpacker hostel or a five-star hotel, Rotorua will not disappoint. There is quite a wide selection of accommodation in Rotorua, you're guaranteed to find your budget and needs.

During our trip to, we stayed at Planet Backpacker, a small backpacker hotel perfectly situated just across i-Site. We paid a very decent price, NZD 55 per night for a private room. The room looked old but quite decent. Beggars can't be choosers. Besides, we preferred to spend the money for other things, such as tours.

i-Site, Tourism Rotorua

i-Site is a must visit for anyone visiting Rotorua. They not only offer useful visitor information, they also help visitors with tour bookings. It is housed in what was once Rotorua Post Office, a large and pretty historical building ~ there goes another reason why you should visit i-Site.

Day 1

Kuirau Park

Within walking distance from the city centre, there's a nice public park with numerous walking tracks leading to hissing and bubbling pools and mud pools. It's not only a nice place to walk around and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake, but also a great place to relive your childhood memories at the kids' playground and check out the steaming geothermal activity without having to pay a cent!

Rotorua Museum

Situated right in the middle of Government Garden, Rotorua Museum is one of the many attractions within walking distance from the city centre. It is housed in a pretty Elizabethan-style old bath house. Rotorua Museum offers insights to history of Rotorua, the eruption of Mount Tararewa, and the bath house. I like how everything is told in a short movie, which includes an interactive earthquake "simulation". A lot easier and more fun to take them all in compared to having to explore the exhibits and displays throughout the museum.

Entrance ticket costs NZD 25 each, which I think is quite expensive for a trip to a museum, especially when the whole south wing was closed down for renovation, and the viewing platform was not accessible because of the bad weather. Anyway, I think it looks prettier from the outside, and you can enjoy that for free!

Tips for anyone wanting to visit this place? Go through one of those booklets you can find at i-Site for a 10% discount voucher!

Government Gardens

Government Gardens housed not only Rotorua Museum but also Blue Bath, the historic bath house which also offers cabaret dinner, Rachel Pool, one of the springs supplying alkaline water to Blue Bath and Polynesian Spa, and my personal favorite, Klamath Falls Rose Garden. Aside from all of the above, you can also people-watch at the numerous lawn bowling fields across the garden.

Day 2

Te Puia

The main attraction in Te Puia is the world famous Pohutu Geyser, which is still very much active, erupting up to 30 metres high every 30 minutes or so. I didn't think that it would be that interesting, but I was surprised to find myself enjoying walking around the geyser areas, watching Maori performances, and taking in the beautiful scenery of the thermal valley.

Entrance fee is NZD 43, but we got ourselves some vouchers from Rotorua Hot Deals which saved us some money for all the attractions we went to that day. It was still pretty expensive, but it was a nice experience.

Skyline

A gondola ride up to the mountain while taking in the beautiful scenery of the lake, the city and the surroundings? Sounds magnificent, right? But we went on the wrong day, the weather was not friendly, it was rainy and foggy we couldn't really enjoy the view, and the ride was very short. In my opinion, it was nothing comparable to the gondola ride in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. The only bright side of Skyline was that we could have the gondola all to ourselves. No one would talk you into sharing the gondola with other visitors, everyone stood in the queue patiently while waiting for a gondola, even when the line was long, we still didn't need to share the ride with some strangers. Nice, but still didn't worth NZD 25 we had to pay. We should've waited until the next day when it was bright and sunny!

Upon arriving at the top, you could opt for a buffet lunch, a cup of hot chocolates or coffee with chips on the side at the cafe, luge ride, or go for a 4D experience at Skyvue. We opted for the last. Skyvue cost us NZD 12 each, and again I was disappointed to find myself sitting inside a small UFO-shaped theater and watching a nauseating 3D movie with no storyline. Luge ride should've been a lot more fun. Afterwards we went to the jam-packed cafe and got ourselves a small cup of potato wedges, which was probably the only thing decent during our whole Skyline experience.

Polynesian Spa

There is nothing like ending the day with soaking your sore muscle in thermal hot pools while taking in the stunning view of Lake Rotorua. The weather may be cool but that's what makes jumping into the pools even more tempting. We got ourselves some tickets to enter Adult Pools and Priests Spa which features hot pools loaded with alkaline water supplied from two natural springs. Each pool has different temperatures between 38 to 42 degrees Celcius. Every pool overlooks Lake Rotorua with some providing a slightly better, unobstructed view to the lake. Best enjoyed with your loved ones. And some even say that the silica water promises youthful complexion. Hmmm..

Day 3

Hobbiton

Shire, Hobbiton is the only place where you can indulge on the picturesque setting of the movie trilogy, Lord of the Rings. And the upcoming The Hobbit!

We didn't plan to visit Hobbiton on the first place, but it was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions which we didn't regret. In fact, it became the highlight of our trip!

Lake Rotorua

Upon returning from Hobbiton, we made our way to Lake Rotorua, the second largest lake in North Island, situated just behind Rotorua Museum and Government Gardens. A peaceful-looking lake with walking tracks circling it ( or at least we assumed it circles the lake, we didn't walk all the way through! ). Lake Rotorua has a high sulphur content and the closer you get to it, the stronger the smell. However, the sulphur content gives the lake a beautiful yellowish-green hue.

Day 4

A walk around the city

It was Easter Monday, so most of the shops are closed. Our bus wasn't until 3 pm so we wandered around the city, did some souvenir-shopping, and chilled out at a coffee shop. It was relaxing and despite the rain, we enjoyed every last bit of our trip to Rotorua.