Top 5 Things To Do in Rotorua

Another rainy day in Fiji, another blog post. After Danne and I explored Hobbiton (click on the link to read about it!) we drove to Rotorua. We stayed there only 2 nights to see some of the Maori culture within New Zealand and also prepare a bit for our 4-day hike on the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Rotorua has a very nice vibe, so I can imagine that others could easily stay longer and explore all of the geothermal locations nearby.

Rotorua is famous for its geothermal attractions such as geysers, hot springs, and hot mud pools. The tourism industry is quite big here. However, I found it had great opportunities to learn about the Maori culture. If you are not familiar with the history of New Zealand, it was the last major landmass that was settled by humans. Pretty cool, right? Polynesians found New Zealand only 700 years ago! These Polynesian became the indigenous people of New Zealand known as Maori.

Then, of course, Europeans came. This lead to many problems between Maori and Europeans. A treaty was signed between the British Empire and the Maori. Not all of these agreements were honoured and the New Zealand government is still working on accomplishing this. Rotorua has a rich history of Maori culture. There are cultural villages and shows within the cities open to tourists. I definitely recommend visiting Rotorua since there is a lot to do there.

So, what do I recommend to do in Rotorua?

Here is a list of my top 5 things to do in Rotorua!

1. Visit Whakarewarewa – The Living Maori Village

Website: https://whakarewarewa.com/
Price: 54 NZD (49 CAD/326 SEK) for the Hangi Pie Experience

There are other cultural experiences in Rotorua, but we chose this one for two reason:

• It was the cheapest.
• It was a real live-in village.

I am really glad that we chose this option, since the money gets put back into the community. The guides live and work in the village. In addition, some of the other cultural experiences are owned by the government, so you are not really putting money back into the hands of the Maori people.

We booked the “Hangi Pie Experience”. Included was a tour done by a local in the Whaka Village. Our tour guide was a rather young Maori man who did a great job showing us the different spots. He was funny and provided a lot of history about his people. We got to look at how the Maori people used the geothermal areas in their village in their everyday life. I loved how the geothermal activity is still incorporated. For example, we learned how the use the natural heat to do hangi, the traditional Maori way of cooking using heated rocks in a pit. As a foodie, I love learning new cooking methods.

There were so many hot spots around the village. There are 3 geysers, which go off sporadically at different times of the day. Danne and I were lucky enough to witness 2 of the geysers while we were there. There are some natural pools which the Maori use for bathing. There are others which are too hot to even swim in!

Our tour lasted 1 hour and then it was off to watch the cultural show. This was extremely well done. Coming from Canada, where our indigenous culture is often not acknowledged enough, I loved how they showcased traditional singing and dancing in a non-hokey way. The whole village experience was about learning the culture and I really loved every second. The show had different dances and songs. I liked when the women danced using the poi, which are like pom-poms. However, my favourite part was the haka, a traditional war dance to scare off enemy tribes.

VIDEO OF HAKA

If you didn’t know, the All Blacks rugby team do the haka before they play. I loved that this Maori tradition is done by all the New Zealanders who play on that rugby team. So cool! We loved the show so much, we ended up going a second time in the afternoon so we could have better seats.

A Maori man while performing the haka, Maori women throwing sticks, and a token tourist picture

After watching the cultural show, we headed to the cafe for lunch. Since we booked the Hangi Pie Experience, we got a meal included. Looking around at the other options, I really recommend our food option. It was seriously delicious! We had different meats and vegetables cooked hangi style with gravy wrapped in a phyllo pie crust. Salad, corn, dessert, and coffee/tea were also included. I think the price was quite reasonable for New Zealand.

There is also a small walking route where you can see some other natural geothermal formations. It didn’t take very long, but it was a nice little walk outside of the village.

2. Visit the Polynesia Spa

Website: https://www.polynesianspa.co.nz/
Price: 30 NZD (27 CAD/181 SEK) for entrance to the Adult and Preist Pools

This spa uses the natural source of hot water. We went here in the evening and spent a few hours relaxing. There are different pools, but each pool is very warm. We did kind of miss having some cooler pools to relax in and bring out temperature down. However, it is really affordable and relaxing. Daniel and I booked the adult pools, but there are pools available for families as well as private rooms too.

3. Take a walk in the Redwoods

Website: https://redwoods.co.nz/

There are lots of huge Redwoods planted in a forest just on the outskirts of Rotorua. You can pay for a treewalk, which looked cool, but we opted for a free walking path in the forest. There are many walking, mountain biking, or horseback riding paths to choose from. It was a tranquil place to take a little walking break. The trees are quite large and beautiful.

Daniel wandering around the Redwoods

4. Drive to some nice views or free hot springs

Daniel looked around maps.me for a free lookout point or activity. After visiting Whaka Village, we felt like we had seen a lot of the geothermal attractions. There are some other free hot springs that are easy to drive to, but we had limited time in Rotorua and wanted to see something new. We drove to the lookout points between Blue Lake and Green Lake. It was a pretty drive out there. Green Lake is closed to the public, but Blue Lake looked like a fun place to swim and do water sports.

5. Enjoy walking around Rotorua

The town is actually quite cute. Before going to the Polynesia Spa we drove Hatupatu Scenic Point. Here we could see Lake Rotorua and some bird life. I liked that many swans in New Zealand were black! Maybe it is because they support the All Blacks? He he!

We also went to Kuirau Park, which is a family friendly park that even has geothermal foot baths. We stopped here quickly on our way out of town. I liked that the foot baths were free to use!

 

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Danne and I only had basically 1 day to explore Rotorua. As I mentioned, we also had to do some shopping to prepare for our hike on the Tongariro Northern Circuit. We could have easily spent more time in Rotorua!

Are you interested in Maori culture? What do you think about tourism to learn about indigenous populations? Is there anything else worth checking out in Rotorua?

Let me know by commenting below!

xx

Jasmine

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