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Taupo and Rotorua
A leisurely morning in Taupo... perhaps some sightseeing... then a quick drive to Rotorua. An afternoon exploring and a night in Rotorua.
Thursday, December 13
Proposed Schedule
9:00am Exploring Taupo region and Orakei Korako
2:00pm Leave Taupo
3:30pm Arrive Rotorua
Afternoon & night in Rotorua
Taupo Activities Info
Orakei Korako Geyserland
494 Orakei Korako Road, RD2
Reporoa
Taupo
NZ$26 per person
http://www.orakeikorako.co.nz/
Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park, also known as The Hidden Valley, is located off the beaten track, between Taupo and Rotorua. While driving, please follow the signs on State Highway 5. From the sign leading you on to Tutukau Road, you will reach Orakei Korako Road after about 15 km. Please follow this
Taupo Websites
Lake Taupo (official site)
Taupo (Wikipedia entry)
Orakei Korako (Wikipedia entry)
road for another 5 km to get to the Cave and Thermal Park. Orakei Korako is only accessible by boat. The boat fare is included in the admission fee. Our boats do not run on a timetable but leave on request throughout the day.
Lake Cruises - Cruise Cat, Ernest Kemp, Alice the Lady of the Lake and Barbary all offer daily covered cruises on Lake Taupo to the Maori Rock Carvings. Huka Falls River Boat offers cruises on the Waikato River to the Huka Falls. Inquire at the Taupo or Turangi i-SITE Visitor Centres.
Alice the Lady of the Lake - Alice is a wood fired, 28ft steam launch built in the 1870s. She is the oldest vessel in a New Zealand survey, and brings to lake Taupo a most interesting life history starting from her early days on the Kaipara Harbour where she was built. Sat and Sun 10, 11, 12.30 and 2pm- 1 hour trip $20 Adult, $8 per child, under 5 free. Lake Taupo Boat Harbour, Berth 43, Lake Taupo.
Tokaanu Thermal Pools - Thermally heated outdoor pool plus private pools. Open 10am to 9pm. Adult $5, Children $2.50. Private pools Adult $7, Children $3. Mangaroa St, Tokaanu.
Tokaanu Thermal Walk - Located adjacent to the Tokaanu Thermal Pools - free thermal bush walk, 15-20 minutes of bubbling mud and silica springs (wheelchair accessible).
Volcanic Activity Centre - Audio visuals and interactive displays about the Taupo volcanic zone. Earthquake simulator and more. Open daily 9am-5pm week days, 10am-4pm weekends and public holidays. Adult $8, Children $4. Family $20 (2 adults and 4 children under 16 years). Students (with ID) and Seniors $5. Situated in Wairakei Tourist Park, Lake Taupo, off SH1 north.
Driving
Taupo to Rotorua
(Google Maps Driving Directions)
1 hr 10 min
80 km
Rotorua Hotel Info
Rydges Rotorua (2 Nights)
272 Fenton Street
Rotorua
Telephone: +64 7 349 0099
Standard Room
http://www.rydges.com/hotel/0/RZROTO/Rydges-Hotel-Rotorua.htm
Located on the edge of Rotorua's Arawa Park Racecourse in a park-like setting, Rydges Rotorua boasts views across the city to Lake Rotorua and Mokoia Island. The hotel is within walking distance of the new Rotorua Central retail and leisure development and the Rotorua Convention Centre.
Each of the 133 rooms has refrigerator, mini-bar, 24-hour room service, iron, hairdryer and tea/coffee making facilities. Other features include a restaurant and bar, heated swimming pool, sauna, gymnasium and tour desk.
- Internet access: fee-based wired and wireless broadband, Telstra and T-Mobile hot spots in some public areas, in-room modem access
- Parking: Free
Internet Cafés / Cyber Cafés
Cybershed
1176 Pukuatua Street,
Rotorua
(07) 349.4965
Rotorua Activities Info
Excavated site of Te Wairoa at the Buried Village
Whakarewarewa
Agrodome
Kuirau Park is situated within the junction of Ranolf Street and Lake Road, only a 5 minute walk from the city centre. Here you can see boiling mud pools, hot steaming crater lakes and sulphur vents. There are two hot water foot pools in which you can soak your feet while visiting the park. Allow about 40 minutes to walk throughout the park.
Sulphur Bay Walkway is great for those who don’t have their own transport and are staying in the city centre. It starts at the Rotorua Lakefront promenade from where you can see out to Mokoia Island in the middle of Lake Rotorua. Following along the on the promenade you will be lead onto a path which takes you out to Motutara Point, or sulphur bay. You will notice as you continue the water turns to a cloudy white colour. This area of the lake is situated on top of an active geothermal area, the water is warm and the smell sulphurous. This is also a significant wildlife reserve. Continuing around you will see boiling mud pools and sulphur vents. We recommend that you stick to the pathway at all times, as the earth’s crust is very thin in places.
Freefall Xtreme
http://www.freefallxtreme.com/
Buried Village
http://www.buriedvillage.co.nz/
On June 10 1886, the Maori village of Te Wairoa and the eighth wonder of the world - the Pink and White Terraces - were destroyed by New Zealand's greatest natural disaster. For more than four terrifying hours, rocks, ash and boiling hot mud bombarded the village. The fiery glow in the night sky and the thunderous roar of the explosions were seen and heard as far away as Auckland. Five thousand square miles were buried. More than 150 lives were lost.
Hell's Gate Wai Ora Spa
http://www.hellsgate.co.nz/
Rotorua also offers New Zealand’s only mud bathing experience.
The unique geothermal muds and waters of Rotorua are renown for their curative and invigorating properties—and this is particularly so at “Hell's Gate” - Rotorua’s most active geothermal reserve. For more than 700 years “Hells Gate” or Tikitere as it is known to the Maori (New Zealand’s indigenous people) has been a special place of wellness from the medicinal sulphur lake to the curative waters and muds of “Hurutini” (name of a geothermal pool). With the arrival of the Europeans to New Zealand (Aotearoa) some 150 years ago, the special qualities of the muds and waters of Hell's Gate Tikitere, have been sought after with many documented and medically certified cures being effected. The special muds and sulphurous waters have been guarded for centuries by the Kaitiaki - ’Wai Ora’ (guardian warrior) after whom the spa is named.
Polynesian Spa
http://www.polynesianspa.co.nz
(Hinemoa St, Rotorua; +64-7/348-1328;) has an air of tourist trap about it, and indeed the tour buses unload here on a regular basis. But most of the tours use the main public pools, leaving the "Luxury Lake Spa" virtually empty. For less than NZ$50, you can enjoy unlimited use of the landscaped rock spa pools with a view of the lake, and a 3 0 minute Aix massage, a soothing, sensory delight performed under a spray of warm water. They even provide rental swimsuits. Don't miss it; Condé Nast voted it one of the ten most prestigious spas in the world in 2004.
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
A Wonderland of Stunning Geothermal Activity
http://www.geyserland.co.nz/
Located 27 kilometres (20 minutes drive) south of Rotorua on SH5, the Visitor Centre provides the gateway to New Zealand's most colourful natural volcanic environment and geothermal tourist attraction.
Visitors can walk at their own pace and absorb the unique geothermal features including the world famous champagne pool, boiling mud , hot springs , steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations. The natural bush setting adds another dimension to the experience as does the guaranteed daily eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser at 10.15am.
Lakeland Queen
http://www.lakelandqueen.com/
The Lakeland Queen is a genuine stern wheel driven paddle steamer designed with the famous Mississippi River Cruisers in mind. We gladly welcome you on board for a scenic cruise, complimented with an international range of mouth-watering cuisine and a fine selection of beverages.
With a new makeover and casual elegance, Rotorua’s Lakeland Queen offers fine wine and cuisine together with breathtaking natural beauty and vibrant history. With three cruises daily, the Lakeland Queen offers a unique dining experience and spectacular vistas of key landmarks around Lake Rotorua and the surrounding countryside.
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
http://www.whakarewarewa.com/
We the people of Tuhourangi - Ngati Wahiao (a Maori family tribe) have lived in and around the geothermal activity of Whakarewarewa for over 200 years. An opportunity arose in 1997 for the people of Tuhourangi/ Ngati Wahiao to begin an independent tourism experience through the living village of Whakarewarewa. The Whakarewarewa Thermal Village Tours began in 1998 under the umbrella of the Whakarewarewa Village Charitable Trust.
Tamaki Maori Village
http://www.maoriculture.co.nz/
1220 Hinemaru Street
PO Box 1492
Rotorua
Email: bookings@maoriculture.co.nz
Phone: +64 7 349 2999
Fax: +64 7 347 2913
3.5 hours
Starting from USD $63.87 per person
Hangi (Earth Oven)
The traditional hangi meal has been under the earth on hot rocks for three to four hours. This is the age-old traditional cooking method of the Maori. The rocks are heated to a white-hot state with some of our native timber. They are then put into a pit dug in the earth. The baskets of meat are put directly on the hot stones, then the vegetable baskets and then the pudding basket on top of that. A wet cloth is placed over the food followed by wet hessian. Earth is then piled quickly over everything to keep the heat inside the earth oven. The kai (food) cooks slowly over several hours - a combination of smoking and steaming, and the end result is a distinctly flavoured, succulent and mouth watering meal. Vegetarians are also catered for upon request.
Mitai Maori Village
196 Fairy Springs Rd
Rotorua
Phone + 64 7 3439132
Fax + 64 7 343 91 33
Freephone (NZ ONLY) 0800 938 464
http://www.mitai.co.nz/
Zorb
http://www.zorb.com/
http://www.zorb.co.nz/
Freecall: 0800 22 74 74
Phone: (07) 357 5100
The Zorb ride is just a totally bizarre and fun adventure experience where you'd be protected by a massive cushion of air whilst sphering down a hill.
Throw in a bucket of water, hop inside the inflated Zorb ball, run, tumble, flip or slide inside it, doesn't sound fun enough yet? Take up to 2 of your mates with you inside the Zorb!
Zorb is the sport of rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball and where New Zealand, once again leads the world in stupid things to do while you're on a vacation.
