Experiencing Nature in Rotorua

Rotorua, NZ

Following their road trip around the South Island (after our Wonderful Wellington Weekend), I met my mom, dad & uncle in Rotorua for the weekend. Rotorua is about 4 hours south of Auckland and is considered New Zealand’s geothermic capital. Because of this, a powerful smell of rotten eggs constantly lingers in the air. It takes some getting used to, that’s for sure! The city’s former largest industry was dairy, but now it’s been completely overtaken by tourism. There is NO shortage of things to do in Rotorua: geysers, hot pools (both fancy & laid back), boat cruises, Maori villages, forests, lakes in abundance, and on and on! It was quite overwhelming to plan our weekend there!

The Redwoods

Due to the fact that they had just had a whirlwind 2.5 weeks touring around, I decided to keep the weekend fairly low-key for my family and I. We rented a car and drove the short distance to the Redwoods in the Whakarewarewa Forest (just 5 minutes out of town! There’s even a city bus that runs there!).

The Redwoods area is comprised of heaps of different trails (for walking/hiking, dirt biking, & horse riding). There were 6 walking trails, truly providing an experience for every capability. We opted to walk the Waitawa Trail – a ~1hr, 3.4km fairly flat track that weaves through the massive redwoods.

This park is honestly one of the most well-maintained parks I’ve ever been in (and it’s totally FREE!!!). The paths were exceptionally clean, the many different trails were very well marked, and the scenery was amazing. Some redwoods were almost incomprehensibly tall! This walk was a fantastic way to start our day off right!

Lakes Galore

Rotorua is home to 17 lakes and there were 3 within a short driving distance from the redwoods. Our first stop was Blue Lake (Lake Tikitapu). The surroundings here were pretty spectacular – tree-covered hillsides, and a lengthy beach with lots of water activity options. There’s also a walking trail that circumnavigates the lake clocking in at about 5km – there were quite a number of people on it when we were there!

Just down the road from Blue Lake lies Green Lake (Lake Rotokakahi). Though not accessible by car, there is a great lookout spot where you can climb to the top of a hill to see both Green & Blue Lakes (and also see from where they get their namesake!). The difference in colour is due to the reflections of the difference lake bottoms (sand in the Green Lake, and pumice in the Blue Lake). It was fairly cloudy when we went, but I’m sure on a sunny day the colours would be even more pronounced.

Completing the lake trifecta, we headed over to Lake Okareka. Nestled at the foot of the small town of the cunningly named Lake Okareka, this lake was full of neighbourhood boaters & boat enthusiasts. We enjoyed a lake-side picnic lunch under sunny, blue skies (the clouds had retreated, finally!).

Kuirau Park

Heading back into town from the lakes, we dropped in at Kuirau Park. As I mentioned above, many of the tourist attractions in Rotorua revolve around seeing & experiencing the geothermic activities in the area. Some tours can get quite pricey, and are located fairly far out of town. For us, Kuirau Park was the next best thing! Driving by in the early morning revealed steam rising up from pockets in the earth. As the day went on, the steam went away, but the geothermic activity didn’t! Right in the middle of the park is a small covered pool with a bench around the perimeter perfectly designed for soaking your feet. The temperature was nice & hot, but not scorching! I almost wanted to forgo public decency and take a full-body dip! Fortunately (for everyone else in the area), I refrained from doing so.

The park also has a pretty decent set of playground equipment as well as a good-sized farmers market on weekends!

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Though we didn’t venture to many of the typical touristy attractions in the area, I was more than happy with what we did choose to spend our day doing. Peaceful forest walks, lake-side picnics with amazing views, and a taste of a hot pool was just the kind of relaxing day we wanted.