Rotorua New Zealand

Rotorua New Zealand is one of the main stops for tourist in the North Island. Rotorua is the heartland of New Zealand’s Maori culture and a great place for shopping. This town is built around a Maori village that you can take a tour of and see how the Maori live. The main town is on the shores of Lake Rotorua, the largest lake of 16 in the area and its only 11m deep. As you get close to the center of town you will notice very fast that this area is dotted with geothermal steam vents. You will quickly smell the sulfur in the air from all the thermal activity.

There is plenty to do here. You can easily speed a whole week just in this town, that’s if you’re the outdoors type and like a little adventure. River Rats Raft & Kayak has several Grades of rafting from a calm lazy paddle down a stream to a white water rafting down some Grade 5 rivers. Then there is my favorite, Skyline Skyrides. This has several things all together. The Gondola that gets you 487m above sea level has great views heading up a side of a mountain. Then you have the Luge, a 3-wheeled cart that you sit in and you ride it down a easy course or a expert course. It’s a paved track that goes around bends and over hills. Very cool and fun, just don’t go around sharp turns to fast. The helmet you get does not protect your elbows when you hit the wall.

Then you have the Skyswing. You get strapped into a kind of a round cage, you get lifted up with a great view of Rotorua. To get the ball to drop and swing out you have to pull the release inside the cage with you. That was my job to drop us and send us at 120kph flying out over the side of the mountain. Massive rush seeing that you feel like your falling. Helipro Helicopter Adventures offers you some fantastic views of Bay of Plenty raw and untouched scenery. Fly over volcanoes, thermal reserves and maybe over Mt Tarawera. They can also be used for transport to golf courses or out of the way wineries. Then there are the New Zealand River Jets the will speed you down the Waiko River through the Tutukau Gorge. You will get to see of the native birds, fantastic pine forest and steaming volcanic river banks.
You have to see Te Puia on your visit to Rotorua. You can take a guided tour of a Maori Village and the thermal pools all around the village. You will be able to see how the Maori live and see the making of some of there outstanding craftsmanship. You can take a steam bath heated by the thermal activity or a hot mud bath. The thermal pools are can also be used for cooking. The famous Pohutu Geyser shoots hot steam and water into the air at regular intervals all day long.

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