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Feel like hanging
out somewhere new? How about a bungy from the tower in Rotorua?
If
you're looking for a lift, there's the gondola up Mt Ngongotaha. And if you want
a rush, try the luge down one of the mount's three tracks or white water rafting
over a seven metre waterfall. Awesome - if you dare! There's a lot that's
hot in Rotorua. The whole area is an extensive geothermal field. The underground
pressure causes geysers to blow regularly; Pohutu erupts twenty times a day at
the Whakarewarewa Village, blowing steam up to 30 metres high.  In
the centre of Rotorua, Kuirau Park, steam and hot mineral water rise out of the
ground. Mud pools splutter and pop. Sulphur, with its rotten egg smell, wafts
on the air of this lakeside city.
Rotorua has its own airport. In the central
North Island, the city's about three hour's drive south of Auckland and an hour
north of Taupo. Various thermal springs surround it. At Wai-o-tapu, meaning 'sacred
water' to the Te Arawa people who settled the region over 300 years ago, the Lady
Knox Geyser blows regularly at 10.15am. At Hell's Gate Thermal Reserve
the largest hot waterfall in the Southern hemisphere cascades spectacularly. Check
out Waimangu Volcanic Valley, and Orakei Korako with its steaming silica terraces.
Visit the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village where Maori people, Ngati Wahiao, cook
food over steam vents. Here you can hear their ancestral stories, represented
in their meeting house carvings and woven fibre panels. There are eleven
lakes around Rotorua: plenty of trout fishing or you can cruise on the Lakeland
Queen, enjoying dinner on board or one of the daytime sailing options. Rotorua
Museum is well worth a visit. Once a health spa, now it's full of local history.
Check out the exhibits from the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera that buried Te Wairoa
village under tonnes of volcanic ash and debris. The eruption covered a 5000 sq.mile
area, burying the famous Pink and White terraces and killing 150 people. Now you
can fly over the mountain for a closer look at this old volcano. If you
prefer something more active there's golf, kayaking, four wheel driving or guided
shooting [deer, pig, possum].There are hydroslides at Leisure World; a steam cave
and a splash pad at the Aquatic Centre; farm displays with shearing, sheep dog
trials and the option to try feeding lambs or milking cows. For more relaxed
moments there are the orchid gardens or the Polynesian Spa where you can enjoy
a massage or mineral baths. And for film buffs, don't forget the Hobbitville setting
from 'The Lord of the Rings' fame. You can learn more about the area by
doing a Google search on Rotorua. 
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