Rotorua

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Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: -38.139832
• Longitude: 176.24707

On Travellerspoint

• 12 Rotorua Hostels
• 2 Rotorua Hotels

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Introduction

Rotorua

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Rotorua is a small city of about 64,000 people on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay Plenty region. The main attractions in Rotorua are Maori culture and amazing geothermal activity. The most popular geysers are located in the town and the surrounding country side. And the famous mud pools are located in the city center itself. Some local Maoris used to, and still do, cook their meal in the hot geysers behind their homes.

The tourist appeal of Rotorua started in the 1860s and only grew mainly due to large thermal waterfalls made of lime located on Mt Tarawera. These falls were very high and bubbling with hot energy and attracted tourists from around the world. Local Maori tribes started to appeal to the tourists and began to exploit lots of money from tourists. Some tribal members claimed that they were offending the gods by doing things like replacing the shell eyes traditional statues with silver and gold coins. Either by random volcanic event, or the anger of gods, Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886 destroying the falls, locals and tourists. The only people that were spare were the few that hid out with a Maori chief that refused to offend the gods.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Kuirau Park is west of the city centre and has several hot bubbling mud pools that visitors can soak their feet in.
• Whakarewarewa (Thermal Village): This town incorporated thermal energy into its system long before Iceland had even thought about it. For over 200 years the Ngati Wahiao tribe has lived in this location and incorporated the thermal springs into their daily lives for bathing, cooking, heating and spiritual needs. Opened as a tourist sight in 1998 travellers can see how a unique people have adapted an environment to fit their needs. Open 7 days a week, 8:30 am to 5 pm and is 5 minutes south of Rotorua
• Rotorua Museum was the original bath house and is not a great museum on the history of Rotorua featuring some great videos and exhibits.
• Shopping: This is a great town to shop for traditional Maori art and crafts.
• Buried Village (Te Wairoa) was a village that was buried in the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption which destroyed some amazing natural formations.
• Lakes: There are several lakes around the area that can offer great boating and swimming. Some lakes are considered holy and therefore off limits to non-Maoris.
• Mountain Biking: There is some great mountain biking to be found in the redwood forests and mountains around Rotorua.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Getting There

By Plane

Rotorua Regional Airport (ROT) provides daily flights to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown by turbo-prop planes and daily jet services. There are plans to extend the runway making it possible for larger planes to land therefore providing direct flights to Australia. Some water planes still land on Rotorua lake.

By Train

Currently it is not possible to get to Rotorua by train.

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

• Whakarewarewa (Thermal Village), it is possible here to eat in the traditional style of this village while visiting. This means eating all your food boiled or steamed with the power of the hot springs and thermal energy from underground. It is best to make reservation is advance.

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

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