And smelly, too. Not because the place is a dump, quite the oppo­site in fact, but because it is a highly vol­canic area where not only spas and steam baths are the thing to do, but it is also the best place in New Zealand where you can learn about Maori cul­ture and under­stand the cul­tural her­itage of this dis­tant coun­try (New Zealand is, after all, far away from everywhere).

Tourist info place in Rotorua

We arrived to Rotorua from the North with our camper van, and were sure we were on the right track when the south­ern winds brought the sul­fur stench up our nos­trils (Sul­fur smells like rot­ten eggs. It emanates nat­u­rally from vol­ca­noes, an ele­ment highly present in the Earth’s core), mak­ing Liza and I stare at each other as if ask­ing who had hmm…errrr…farted.. before remem­ber­ing where we were arriving.

Rotorua is a pleas­ant town: small, well designed, clean, with a few pho­to­graphic areas, it is quite man­age­able  and has many spots near the lake (lake Rotorua) where you can park the camper van or pitch the tent for an overnight stay.

Lake Rotorua

Most vis­i­tors come to Rotorua to gaze at the geot­her­mal activ­ity within the city, engage in any of the extreme sports that are pop­u­lar in the area (sky­div­ing steal­ing the show), and visit any of the Maori cul­tural shows that abound. These do not vary too much in con­tent, but do vary a lot in price, some of them cost­ing up to 200 NZD per per­son for a 4 hour show. Upon ask­ing at a sou­venir store what are the best activ­i­ties in Rotorua  he sug­gested among other things that we visit one of these shows, but not one of the expen­sive ones (like Te Puia) but the cheap­est instead. The rea­son is that where as in the expen­sive shows every­thing is staged, Te Whakare­warewa has a small dance show (that I admit is not that great) and also includes a guided visit of Te Whakare­warewa vil­lage, and this is what dif­fer­en­ti­ates it from the rest. In this vil­lage peo­ple still live as they used to over 400 years ago, right in the mid­dle of a highly geot­her­mal area (some houses have had to be aban­doned because of safety rea­sons), and there is a nice walk to be enjoyed in the nearby woods. The very enter­tain­ing guide explains how they live in har­mony with nature and the many uses they make of geot­her­mal energy. This tour costs 28 NZD and is very good value in my opin­ion. Highly rec­om­mended (you can get more info at www.whakarewarewa.com).

Other things to do include a walk along the lake, vis­it­ing any of the muse­ums of the city, jump­ing on a speed boat for a fast race against time, vis­it­ing the nearby red­wood for­rest and as a per­sonal sug­ges­tion I rec­om­mend you visit Okareka lake which is only a 15 minute drive away, towards lake Okataina. In fact if you’re sleep­ing in a camper van or a tent, spend a night there. Right besides the dock there is a small park­ing space with a green area and camp­ing tables. The scenery here is breath­tak­ing, both dur­ing sun­set and in the morn­ing, mak­ing you feel alive as soon as you look close the day or wel­come the new one. Plus the ducks that want your food are a geat source of enter­tain­ment. Again, if you’re a pho­tog­ra­phy afi­cionado, have your cam­era ready. You wont regret it!

Try read­ing the bot­tom sign-quickly

Unless you want to expe­ri­ence all of the extreme activ­i­ties in the area or are a very slow walker two days is enough to see and enjoy what Rotorua and nearby sur­round­ings has to offer, but not less. It is a must in your North Island tour and one place you will not for­get. Don’t  you think?

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