Rotorua is a small city on a huge lake that’s packed with a lot of activities, from ziplining to geothermal wonders. Last week, I showed you what there is to do around Mount Maunganui. This week, we travel an hour away from the Bay of Plenty to take a look at Rotorua. Here’s why I think a visit to the area is worthwhile.
Zorbing
Have you heard of zorbing? Zorbing is one of the weirder things you can do in New Zealand. When you zorb, you get into a giant inflated ball that has a little bit of water in it with a couple of your friends and then….they push you down a hill. Rotorua is the place it was invented and Zorb Rotorua is the place to try it. They have four tracks that are either straight or that zig and zag you through field and forest.
Why on Earth did we do this? Well, I made a list of experience present choices for the kids this year. Since we were traveling over the holidays and had to pack light, each kid got to pick out something to do as their big Christmas present. I included a couple of quintessential New Zealand activities, of course (zorbing and bungy jumping) and my youngest daughter picked zorbing. She didn’t even think about it, she just knew she wanted to do it. (Thank goodness no one picked bungy jumping!)
Zorbing was honestly pretty fun. We did two tracks: one straight, fast one, and one that zigged back and forth down the hill. By far, I would recommend the straight fast track. I got a little queasy on the second one, but we all had a ton of fun. Here’s what it’s like to be inside of one:
You can buy as many trips as you’d like and then in between, sit in a hot tub and watch others enjoying the zorbs.
Ziplining
My husband’s oldest daughter picked ziplining and we found an amazing place to do it. Just outside of Rotorua is a swath of old-growth forest — one of the only native forests that remains. Rotorua Canopy Tours has two great ziplining routes through this forest. Part of your fee goes towards their conservation efforts which have made a huge difference in the last ten years in terms of regrowth and forest health. I just love how everyone in New Zealand is so conservation-minded!
This crew makes the ziplining safe and super easy. The views are just marvelous.
Redwoods Treewalk
In 1901, New Zealand planted a stand of redwood trees as an experiment to see which species of tree would be best for their fledgling logging industry to harvest later. Since New Zealand is the same distance South from the equator that San Francisco is North, the trees grew well here. They never did chop them down. Now, you can walk amongst them and the beautiful black fern trees, imaging you’re on Endor.
And they make it easy for you to pretend you’re an Ewok too. They’ve built a series of suspension bridges and platforms that you can walk through either during the day or at night. My daughter, Alison, picked the Redwoods Treewalk experience as her gift and she wanted to do it at night, when they light up dozens of art installations and make the whole forest look even more magical than it already is. I’ve gone during the day and at night. They’re both amazing experiences. If I had to choose one, I think I prefer the night walk. It was just so….wonderful.
Geothermal Parks & Maori Culture
Last time my husband and I ended up in Rotorua we stayed in a tiny house AirBNB near Hamurana so we were centralized in the area for a few days. There are some really fun adventures that we couldn’t repeat this time.
Mainly, Rotorua has some great geothermal features and parks that show them off. We went to Wai-O-Tapu last time, saw a geyser erupt, and some interesting geothermal pools. Rotorua also has a number of spas with pools that are warmed from their geothermal features. We went to the Polynesian Spa and had a great time relaxing in the pools. Another place I’d like to get to is Hell’s Gate Mudbaths because it looks like messy, wonderful fun!
Rotorua also has a plethora of options to learn more about the Maori culture. Many places will cook you a traditional hāngī feast in which meat is roasted with potatoes and other foods underground all day, followed or preceded by a Maori show.
Dining & Downtime
To be fair, Rotorua is a bit overrun by tourists, so be prepared when you go. Some of our best moments on both trips were simply walking down to the lake and viewing the sea planes and black swans while letting the kids play on their excellent playground. There’s also a row of restaurants leading to the lake called Eat Streat that you can check-out. I highly recommend Atticus Finch, which specializes in delicious small plates and cocktails. We spent a lovely evening there with the kids.
All-in-all, we had a great time in Rotorua. It’s worth considering a stop if any of the activities above are on your bucket list!