Adventures and Geothermal Activity in Rotorua, New Zealand
Stepping off the bus in Rotorua, I was greeted by the strong smell of rotten eggs from all of the sulfur in the area. The geothermal activity in Rotorua is what has made the area famous, and I intended to explore it over the next day or two.
Discovering the Geothermal Activity of Kuirau Park
I made my way to my hostel and immediately set out to explore, starting with Kuirau Park. Kuirau Park is right near the city center, free to visit, and has lots of geothermal activity. What does that mean? Well, there is serious heat built up under the ground which escapes through hot or steaming pools, boiling mud pools, holes emitting steam, and the occasional geyser shooting water into the air.
The park has a large quantity of fenced off pools accompanied by equally many signs telling you to stick to the paths. Because of all of the activity underground, it is not uncommon for the ground to be very thin on top of what could be boiling hot water underneath – something you definitely don’t want to fall through!
My favorite part of Kuirau Park was further in with a large pool that had view points and a raised path you could take to walk across it. It was emitting large amounts of steam to where you could barely see through it at times. If you head to Rotorua, I highly suggest you start here!
Exploring the Town of Rotorua
As it was kind of drizzling and I had no car, I set off to explore town on foot. There’s only a few main streets, and it’s largely segmented into a dining area, shopping area, and supermarket area. After feeling satisfied with what little the town had and the small portion of it that was open on a Saturday… I continued my walk to a few other sites in the area.
Wandering through the Polynesian Spa & Government Gardens
Just outside the main “town” is the the Polynesian Spa, which is supposed to be world-class. I headed that direction and onward to the lakefront geothermal path behind the Government Gardens. The walk started out very solidly passing lots of geothermic activity, but it eventually ran into a road. It followed the road a ways and then ran through some trees, and of course it had moved from drizzling to raining.
By the time I made it back around I was solidly wet, despite my slightly broken umbrella, and made my way through the disappointing Government Gardens. They appear to be more for lawn sports than flowers, although the rose garden was lovely! From there, I sought out dinner and returned to the hostel to dry out and relax a bit.
Visiting Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
Come morning, I was off to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village which I had read rave reviews of. It’s a “living village” of the native Maori people. This really means that the local Maori people still live there and perform their daily tasks there in the same ways they used to. It shows the practical sides of the geothermal activity in Rotorua.
Getting to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village from Rotorua Town
I stopped by the front desk and was told that on Sundays the buses run only about once an hour so it’s better to just walk. You can walk the main road, Fenton Street, for about 40 minutes to get there or take the Geothermal Path I had taken yesterday around the Gardens, but head in the opposite direction, which takes an hour.
I of course opted to take the path there which was a fairly nice walk with the occasional steam or boiling mud/water. Although, the path was not very well-marked and frequently I thought I had gotten lost. However, eventually I popped out at the parking lot of the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village.
Touring Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
Tickets to the village are $35 but include an hour-long guided tour and a cultural show in addition to the ability to wander around the whole village. I must say, they do an excellent job in explaining things and providing a humorous tour.
Cooking & Bathing in the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
One thing we learned about was how they usually cook their food in the ground over firewood with coals on top and covered by earth. Because of the thin ground in Rotorua, they have steam holes where they have enclosed some of the steaming holes with boxes and just put their food (meat) in to steam in the morning and by evening it was ready.
For non-meat products, they could also place it in a natural hot pool to cook. No meat is allowed in this pool because the runoff from this cooking hot pool was directed to their stone baths by simply unblocking the natural path of the water and letting it flow down to the baths. Talk about using the power of the geothermal activity in Rotorua for good!
The baths had to be filled by 2pm to allow the water to cool down enough for bath time after 5pm when the village closes to tourism. If the water got too cold, you simply unblock the hot water to warm it back up and then reblock it once the bath was at the correct temperature.
Other Sites in the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
Other parts of interest in the village included the Pohutu Geyser, Prince of Wales Geyser, and Kereru Geyser. They are all part of the nearby tourist spot but the lookouts from the village provide great overlook points, supposedly better than from within the park. However, you cannot get as close, so take your pick!
The 2pm Cultural Show
After the 1pm tour, our friendly Maori tour guide, who lived in the village, dropped us off for the 2pm cultural show. It included seven of the village people singing and dancing showing some of their older war signal songs/traditions (Haka) and some more upbeat happy ones as well.
It was pretty interesting especially as they use their faces, specifically tongues and wide open eyes, to make all kinds of faces. After finishing my exploration of village, I walked the couple of miles back to town and prepped to head onwards to Auckland!
Plan Your Trip to New Zealand
Check out these other useful posts to continue your planning.
- Road Trip from Queenstown to Christchurch
- Road Trip from Queenstown to Glacier Country
- Renting a Car in New Zealand: An Essential Guide
- Discover Lake Wanaka: Hidden Gem of New Zealand
- The City of Auckland
- In Search of Glow Worms: Waipu and Abbey Caves
- Visiting Hobbiton: The Set of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings’ Movies
- Piha: Adventure to a Black Sand Beach
- Wining and Dining on Waiheke Island
- Visiting the Bay of Islands with The Rock Overnight Adventure Cruise
