Rotorua via Kiwi/lakes country & a visit to iconic Whakarewarewa

This tour is perfect for people wanting a full day sightseeing our diverse landscape incl. Mt Maunganui. Marvel at beautiful beaches and multimillion dollar homes, before a 45 minute drive from the coast slowly ascending up the central plateau, through Kiwifruit plantations (we stop at an orchard so you can see these vines in full foilage/fruit) and typical NZ pastoral farmland to our furthest inland destination, Rotorua Rotorua 8 lakes, with a focus on the geothermal area of Whakarewarewa Maori village (est. late 1800's) Enjoy a 30 min concert emphasising the rich Maori culture with song, dance and stories, as well as a mesmerizing walk through their geothermally active wetland where you get close up to bubbling boiling hot springs and mud pools. . Take in the most popular sites of interest - Blue & Green lakes, view Mt Tarawera (erupted 1886) across the most gorgeous lake, walk through NZ native bush full of ferns and tall podocarps like an 1800's pioneer or Maori warrior.

Itinerary

1. Stop and talk about this beautiful area, we tell how that James Cook discovered in 1769 (15 min)
2. Driving through 25,000 acres of Te Puke kiwi orchards, we give you a comprehensive and interesting narrative on the development of this fruit in our country, a brief rundown of the techniques utilised in growing it and it's importance to our local economy, as well as we stop at kurts 12 acre orchard for a closer inspection. You'll be impressed, I assure you (10 min)
3. We head to Rotorua via a beautifully scenic route with excellent examples of native fauna of this region great views of the Pacific Ocean as we head down from the elevated central Plateau (50 min)
4. Entry is included into this historic world renowned bubbling geothermal village where local Maori still live today. You will be impressed by a storming 40 minute cultural performance where you will be entertained by the local Māori entertainment troupe with their natural gift for music and dance and a stomping good version of the Haka, a once seen, never forgotten war dance. The Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao village people have a proud history of sharing their stories, song and dance spanning over a century, being the iwi (pronounced “eewee” tribe) that originally guide tourists at the Pink and White Terraces before it was buried in the Mt Tarawera eruption. With our special agreement with iwi (tribe) we can have a peek at the famous Pohutu and Prince of Wales Feathers geysers which put on a natural display of hot gushing groundwater heated by the geothermal activity beneath it. Another highlight is a 30 minute walk through their very geothermally active natural wetland zone (1h 30min) Admission included
5. An elevated spot where you are welcome to take postcard like photos with the idyllic Lake Okareka in the foreground and its many stunning lakefront holiday homes and the once lively and active Mt Tarawera (presently dormant) in the background. (10 min)
6. Optional to soak in these soothing mineral waters or a mud massage only found in Rotorua. This is in a wonderful setting, but we really do recommend this as a winter attraction as most of the 10 or so natural hot mineral pools are at or close to body temperature. You can choose to sub out the Whakarewarewa concert and Geothermal walk for this if you choose at no additional cost.
7. Stop and enjoy the beautiful gardens and the iconic old architecturally significant Rotorua Bathhouse. We encourage you to walk from one side of these gardens to another which is 100 yards so you can get a better experience here, then we pick you up on the other side. Early summer is best here for the full bloom of flowers. (15 min)
8. We will select one of 3 fine cafes to stop for lunch, one of which you will have a fine vista of the lake and the large intricately carved meeting house (whare nui) (30 min)
9. You will enter an prime example of New Zealand native forest, the comments from our past clients range from beautiful to awe inspiring. Abundant with tall podocarps, dozens of different fern varieties including Jurassic Park tree ferns(Actor Sam Neil is from NZ) and to your benefit no poisonous snakes or spiders or scary creepy craw lies or tigers or leeches, so walk through and embrace without a trace of fear. You also have the opportunity to take a 300 m hike into this spellbounding natural space. By all accounts, you will love this stop (25 min)
10. Lake Tikitapu (Blue lake), and lake Rotokakahi (green lake), are two gems in the middle of a beautiful native forest. Blue lake is open to everybody and is a nice destination to spend a week-end swimming, boating, barbecuing etc. while the green lake is “tapu” (taboo, forbiden) due to some historical conflict between local tribes… Nice panoramic photo to do in the lookout between these to lakes. Be amazed at the beauty of these Lakes. (10 min)
11. Take in the breath taking view of Mt Tarawera and discover the History of the 1886 eruption. Photo stop extraordinaire. We stop at a very good photo opportunity lookout to view this lake and mountain that has had a large influence on this regions history and landscape, and together with the lake offers a wonderful sight, one of the best on your tour. Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886 and buried the most touristic attraction at the time the Pink and White Terraces as well as the local village. We can see the volcano on the opposite site of the lake. Bring your camera! We may omit travelling to this lookout if time limits us due to early departure of your cruise ship (5 min)
12. This is the last of our stops (we, hopefully will have time) before our 50 minute journey back to the ship. Here, if you are fit and able, we will descend a 60 step walkway, where at the bottom you will be invigorated as you stand just a metre away from a roaring grade 4 river that drains the large Rotorua and Rotoiti lakes out to the ocean some 40 km away….Enthralling and a great photo opp site (20 min)

Meeting & end point