About 230 km from Auckland and 80 km from Taupo, Rotorua sits at the edge of a lake that fills a huge volcanic caldera and the city is riddled with hot springs, craters, geysers and pools of bubbling mud. It's at an elevation of about 300m on the north-eastern edge of the central volcanic plateau. This area was built up by hundreds of thousands of years of eruptions from the Taupo Volcanic Zone that underlies the land from Mount Ruapehu and Taupo, through Rotorua and out to steaming White Island off the coast.


The local Maori are the Te Arawa tribes. According to tradition, they came from the ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki in the Te Arawa waka (canoe) and settled at first on the coast. Their tohunga (high priest), Ngatoro-i-rangi, created the region's lakes by stamping his foot in the dry earth as he travelled inland to Lake Taupo and the mountains of Tongariro and Ruapehu. On the cold summit of Tongariro he was caught in a blizzard and called to his sisters in Hawaiiki to send him fire for warmth. It came under the sea and land, bursting out at White Island, Rotorua and Taupo before bringing the mountains to roaring eruption. It is this fire that still warms the land today.

Ihenga, the grandson of the canoe's captain, explored the region and named the lakes. Travelling inland, he found Lake Rotoiti first, and called it Te Roto-iti-kite-a-Ihenga (The little lake discovered by Ihenga). Then he came to Lake Rotorua and named it Rotorua-nui-a-Kahu (The second big lake of Kahu), after his father-in-law, Kahu-mata-momoe. The Te Arawa tribes who followed him settled throughout the region, making good use of the thermal areas for cooking, bathing and heating, and over the centuries occasionally disputing territory and warring amongst themselves and with the neighbouring tribes from Waikato and Tauranga.

The 1820s through to the 1860s were a time of particularly violent turmoil and warfare for Te Arawa. In 1822, one sub-tribe made the mistake of killing visiting warriors from the Ngapuhi tribe. Ngapuhi controlled much of Northland, including the area around Russell, which was New Zealand's first sizeable European port. This meant that Ngapuhi had access to Europeans and their technology, especially the new military technology of guns.

A Ngapuhi chief, Hongi Hika, had visited King George IV in Britain in 1820, helped a Cambridge Professor write a Maori language grammar and then picked up a few hundred muskets in Sydney on his way home. Hongi Hika used his muskets and the large number of warriors he could recruit with them to settle various old scores. In 1823, he came down the coast, up a river and had his men haul their great big sea-going war canoes kilometres through the bush so that he could attack Te Arawa's island refuge of Mokoia in Lake Rotorua (centre top of picture). Te Arawa survived the attack, but their numbers were decimated. In the 1830s, European missionaries found the region embroiled in violent conflicts between sub-tribes and complained that their converts were all dying too quickly. Then, in the 1850s, there was warfare with neigbouring Waikato tribes after an Arawa warrior murdered a Waikato chief.

British colonial forces fought major battles with Ngapuhi in the 1840s and invaded the Waikato in the 1860s. So, during the conflict of the 1860s, Te Arawa allied with the colonial government against their tribal enemies. Because of this, Te Arawa did not suffer the immense punitive land confiscations that stripped 'rebel' Maori of their land. They still own a considerable amount of real estate in the region, most notably Mokoia Island, Mt Tarawera, the lakeside village of Ohinemutu, and Whakarewarewa - a spectacular thermal area with a thriving Cultural Centre and Arts & Crafts Institute, where they are now perhaps the most visible face of Maori culture in the New Zealand tourism industry.


Tourism fuelled development. Queen Victoria's son, Prince Alfred, set the trend in 1870 when he visited the Pink and White Terraces, bathed in hot springs for their health-giving properties, and enjoyed Maori feasts and cultural performances. It's pretty much continued that way ever since, in spite of the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera that blew apart the renowned Pink and White Terraces and buried whole villages in metres of ash and mud. Survivors from the tribe which had guided visitors to the Pink and White Terraces resettled at Whakarewarewa and quickly got back into the tourism business there. The eruption had also opened up a new string of craters and thermal activity in the Waimangu valley that drew tourists - particularly an explosive geyser that blasted a black mixture of steam and rocks up to 400m in the air (Waimangu means black water). Even the buried village of Te Wairoa near Lake Tarawera is now a tourist attraction.

The road from Auckland was completed in 1884 and the railway ten years later. More accommodation and spa facilities were built and the forests were cleared, milled and in places replanted in pine trees. Farming didn't do so well until scientists in the 1930s identified the cobalt deficiency in the soils of volcanic ash and began to remedy the problem. By that time, vast areas had been planted in Radiata pines that grow to maturity here in 25 years. The Kaingaroa forest between Rotorua, Taupo and the Ureweras was once the largest man-made forest in the southern hemisphere. Tourism, farming and forestry remain the principal industries of the Rotorua region, as they are for the whole of New Zealand really.


Rotorua's hot springs are powered by the collision between two immense tectonic plates. Just east of the North Island, the dense sea-floor basalt of the Pacific plate slides down under the lighter continental crust of the Indo-Australian plate and continues to push forward while sinking at an angle underneath the North Island. When the sinking Pacific plate reaches a depth of about 80 km, it melts, and great streamers of red-hot lava come pushing their way up to the surface. A particular feature of New Zealand's bit of crust is that it is not very thick, at about 15 - 20 km as opposed to the normal 35 - 45 km, so the effect of the rising magma is intensified. The Taupo Volcanic Zone follows the line where the descending plate hits 80 km down and the hot stuff comes up. This line actually extends under the sea all the way past Tonga to the equator, and is part of the 'Ring of fire' that encircles the Pacific. The volcanoes of the Phillipines and Japan, Mount St Helens in the USA, and the earthquakes of California are all part of this ring.

Most houses and businesses seem to have bores going down to tap the hot water for mineral pools and for heating. There were so many at one time that the water table dropped and thermal features such as the geysers at Whakarewarewa became less active. In the last few years, the city council has limited the use of bores and the water table has risen again. The geysers and bubbling mud pools are going strong, not just at Whakarewarewa, but also sometimes unexpectedly in suburban lawns and city parks with spectacular results. Most of Rotorua also smells strongly of hydrogen sulphide. It can accumulate in basements, especially by coming through faulty bores, and a few people have died from it over the years, but it's rated as harmless to tourists.

Waiotapu is about 20 km south of Rotorua on the way to Taupo. Busloads of tourists converge at the Lady Knox geyser near here at 9:30 every morning for the 10:00 eruption of the geyser (buy your tickets at Waiotapu first and come early to get a carpark, a seat and an unobstructed view - it's extremely popular!). It's so regular because the guides trigger it with cakes of soap. In colonial days, prisoners washing their clothes in the hot pool discovered this effect. I imagine it was fairly startling for them at the time. A cairn of rocks has since been built over the pool to focus the eruption and a nice layer of deposited sinter makes it look fairly natural. It blasts up to about 30m at first, and then plays for up to an hour at 5 - 10 m (pictured).

Waiotapu (Sacred waters) is my favourite attraction because of the magnificent, multi-hued, bubbling, steaming and wildly colourful Champagne Pool. It's 60m across, 60m deep, bubbling with carbon dioxide, and loaded with everything from dissolved gold and silver to silica and antimony. The sinter terraces that drain the run-off are huge, but only a faint echo of what the Pink and White Terraces must have been like. Mud pools, hot pools and old craters can be interesting but a trifle drab at times. The Champagne Pool is vibrant.



Waimangu Valley is around 15 km south of Rotorua off the Taupo road. Brought to life by the 1886 Tarawera eruption, this valley is the greenest and most natural of the thermal areas. It boasts the 'world's largest hot spring' and the delightfully blue Inferno Crater Lake, as well as other springs and terraces on about 4 kilometres of trail through native bush. At the bottom of the valley, you can also do an informative and scenic half-hour cruise on Lake Rotomahana under the looming bulk of Tarawera. It's usually uncrowded and peaceful and they lay on a bus back up the valley.

Whakarewarewa is close to the city, and is its premier attraction. It combines geysers, springs, terraces, craters and bubbling mud pools with highly-skilled displays of Maori culture and crafts. It's very popular.

Tikitere, or Hell's Gate, is to the east of Lake Rotorua on the way to Whakatane. It's predominantly boiling mud, steaming rocks and churning pools of superheated water, and is a little more sombre and atmospheric than other areas. It has a nice new spa area where you can slather yourself in mud and soak out any stress. There are peacocks patrolling the tearooms there, so watch out underfoot when you come through.



Kuirau Park is in the city and has mud pools, hot springs and other attractions. It's quite safe in the busy areas, but it's not a place to venture into at night. It's also a sensible precaution to avoid secluded areas, as there have been a few muggings and sexual assaults there.

Polynesian Pools in the city is a popular lakeside complex of heated and mineral pools. Classic outdoor (or indoor) relaxation in any weather.


Te Wairoa, the buried village, is close to Lake Tarawera. It's kind of like a New Zealand Pompei (without the bodies or extensive stonework) and quite an interesting place for a wander.

Mt Ngongotaha Go up on the gondola on a clear day for a view over the city and lake. There's a restaurant and cafe at the top, and luge tracks down the slopes (always exhilarating but a little jarring on the butt in places).

Paradise Valley Springs is a little ways behind Mt Ngongotaha. There are springs of crystal-clear water set in native bush and stocked with hundreds of hungry trout. There are also native birds and a few lions. It's relatively natural and relaxing, but beware the tour bus groups (and the tour buses on the winding country road)!

Redwood Memorial Grove is just a a short distance from Whakarewarewa. Giant Californian seqouias were planted here in 1901, and now reach about 55m. It's a great place for a walk or a bike ride in hot weather.

Tudor Towers Museum & The Blue Baths are set in gardens between the lake and the city. They show the historic spa facilities that people came to for their health, and the museum has a fabulous display of Te Arawa taonga (treasures) that give a real insight into their culture. Take a walk along the lakeshore (pictured) while you're there.

There are also numerous other attractions, such as farm shows (sheep shearing and the like), bungy jumping, kiwi displays (the bird), Maori villages and cultural performances, kayaking, fishing, horse riding, bee and honey displays, mountain biking and lake cruises. I'm sure there are more every time we go there. As a tourist town, it's well provided with accommodation, restaurants and cafes. I like it - especially the hot pools and the intense geology.