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Hi We will be spending the day in Rotorua on our way up to Auckland. I appreciate that this may not be anywhere near long enough.
My children want to try the Luge, are there any springs close by that I can show them as well, also can anybody recommend other ideas please?
Thanks
Andrew:exit
We visited Rotorua before xmas and it was fantastic.
We didn't go to the Luge because we found it too expensive for what it is. To go to the Luge you will have to pay for the cable car as well. Instead, we went to Wai-O-Tapu and Rainbow Springs.
I think Rainbow Springs is really nice, specially if you have kids. There are a lot of animals there that they can hand feed, including a couple of Keas.
Wai-O-Tapu is where you will find one of NZ's most famous post card: the Champagne Pool. You should have a few hours to spare if you want to walk all the park though.
Hi GYBlues :)
We (me, hubby, 11, 8 and 7 year old) were all transfixed by the Volcanic/thermal valley when we came out on our reccie trip in 2006. (See link below).
We took a boat tour of the lake where the pink and white terraces once were. We saw geysers, beautiful pools and bubbling hot water, it was fantastic. I would highly recommend it. :nice1
http://www.waimangu.co.nz
We did one day in Rotorua when my family was in town. We did the Zorb and Luge - both were a LOT of fun. Zorb is a bit pricy, but the Luge was a blast - the gondola to the top is included in any of the luge rides that you buy - my OH didn't do the luge, and he came up to the top with us to watch us do the rides.
After the adventure stuff, we went down to the lake and went around that area a bit. Grabbed lunch at the Fat Dog, and then went walking through a small thermal park right off the main road towards the city centre.
We didn't do the hot springs parks, as the kids weren't terribly interested in it, so we wandered through the free area and that was enough for them. It was a great time!
I have some pics & stuff in my blog from that trip, and previously when we were in Rotorua with friends. www.managingimaginarymenageries.wordpress.com
Have a great time!
It's not cheap, but I think Te Puia has pretty much the whole NZ experience in one place. Geysers, hot springs, bubbling mud, a kiwi house, a marae with Maori kapa haka shows and much more. We send all our visitors there, and they always come back happy.
We recently took our visitors to Te Puia , not sure if you're a NZ resident , but if you are you can purchase a 'Whanau Card' [Family Card] for $35 - we did this and it saved us a fair amount - valid for a year for 2 adults & up to 4 kids.For us it more than paid for itself with only one visit. We booked one of the Maori Cultural Performances , the price is discounted with the card too and you get 20% off in the cafe & 10% in the gift shop.
Also any other family you take get 20% of their entry price.
I third Te Puia; I've taken visitors there twice, and both times went to see the cultural performance, which was fab. Thanks for the tip about the Whanau card, janrzm; that looks really good value. http://www.tepuia.com/
You should be able to squeeze both Te Puia and the luge into a day. I've been to Te Puia three times (on my first holiday, then when my dad came to visit and then when my mum came to visit, I've enjoyed it every time).
Make sure you get to see the cultural performance as Te Arawa are the best in New Zealand at kapa haka (my opinion but just ask anyone around here).
Then you can drive via the city centre or on Old Taupo Rd (SH5) to get to the gondola. I love going on the luge, but only go if it's a dry day as they don't open the luge tracks when it's wet.
There's a trout stream by the car park so you can look for trout too (they swim from the lake up to Rainbow Springs and back down again).
You can eat at the restaurant at the gondola if you are running out of time, else there are lots of fast food places on Fairy Springs Rd (KFC, Burger King, Maccas etc).
If you have time to go elsewhere for food then look no further than Eat Streat, which is the name for Tutanekai St between Pukaki and Whakaue streets. Lots of choice down there.
Hope you have fun,
Alison
We did the luge (great fun) and a Maori Hangi (yum!)/cultural show which also included a nighttime guided walk through Rainbow Springs. This way you get to see the Kiwi, which is nocturnal. We also visited Wai-o-tapu, which was good but a bit same-same-different after a while.