April 10, 2004
Auckland to Wellington
Air New Zealand Express – NZ2351 – Seat 3A
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I took the Airbus to the airport for my Air New Zealand Express flight to Rotorua. My 50 minute flight to Rotorua in a “puddle jumper” was uneventful except for a bit of a bumpy ride during landing as the winds were strong. My bags were off loaded from the plane and ready for pickup in the tiny Rotorua Airport terminal within ten minutes. I took an airport shuttle (NZ$12) to the Rydges Rotorua where I had booked a room for three nights.

Rydges Rotorua is a four story hotel located on Fenton Street, a main thoroughfare into and through downtown Rotorua. Downtown is a ten minute walk from the hotel. The hotel had a nice dining area towards the back of the hotel in a four story atrium that is spacious and bright during the day. There was a small bar on the mezzanine level and an indoor pool on the top floor. The front office staff were friendly and helpful and found me a room even though I was checking in a bit early. They assigned me a room with two double beds on the fourth floor. Rydges Rotorua advertises “the largest rooms in Rotorua” and from the room I was assigned the claim rang true. The room was nearly double the size of most standard hotel rooms. Since the room was on the top level of the hotel, the ceiling was higher than usual making the room feel even more spacious. The furniture was wicker and simple and the bedspreads a bit dated, but the room was clean. The bathroom was of standard size. My only negative comment about the hotel was the water fixtures in the bathroom showed signs of wear, mainly rust, probably from the minerals in the water. One nice thing about the hotel was the availability of guest laundry facilities located in the basement level of the hotel. To my surprise, use of the washer and dryer were free to guests. Laundry soap could be purchased from the front desk or you could purchase your own from the market down the street.

After settling in, I walked to the Rotorua Tourism Office located on Fenton Street in downtown. The very helpful person tourism representative helped me book several tours and visits to various attractions. When I was done with my bookings I decided to pay a visit to the Skyline Skyrides \. The tourism representative arranged transportation there for me on a shuttle run by a woman and her husband. The shuttle provided transportation between the hotels in Rotorua and most of the attractions in and around Rotorua. The cost of transport between my hotel and Skyline was only NZ$4 (one way), much cheaper than a taxi. If you don’t mind making a few stops to pick-up / drop-off other passengers along the way, this is a cheap mode of transport.

The Skyline Skyrides ticket office and parking area is located at the bottom of a moderate sized mountain. After purchasing my combination gondola / luge ticket (NZ$25) I rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, passing over the concrete luge tracks. The clear day afforded me magnificent views of Rotorua and the surrounding area, including Lake Rotorua. My combination admission ticket included two luge rides. The luge is a like a tobaggon with wheels and handle bars to steer and stop. There are three courses for luge riders; beginning, intermediate, and advanced. Riders must first negotiate the beginners run before attempting either of the other runs. From the gondola looking down onto the luge track it did not appear the riders were traveling very fast. Suprisingly, however, once on the track the luge vehicles get going pretty fast. I had a great time and would have done the runs several more times if there weren’t so many people waiting in line. It was Easter break and there were tons of people visiting and waiting in line for the luge ride.

That evening I attended a traditional Maori “hangi” meal and performance at the Tamamki Maori Village outside of Rotorua (NZ$54). A very friendly and pleasant woman named Aroha, of Maori descent, picked me up at my hotel in a large bus. As we stopped at several other hotels to pick-up guests, Aroha took the time to chat with each of the guests and welcome them to New Zealand and Rotorua. During the twenty minute bus ride to the re-created Maori village outside of Rotorua, Aroha educated us about the history and some of the culture of the Maori people. Upon arrival at the village the guests participated in a welcome ritual (see the pictures), then were given time to wander through the re-created village. We then attended a 45-minute performance consisting of song, dance, and story telling which provided interesting facts about the Maori people, their history, and their culture. I found the performance very enjoyable. Following the performance we moved to the dining room where we were treated to a traditional “hangi” meal of roasted meats, vegetables, salads, breads, and desserts served buffet style. The food was excellent. Throughout the dinner, the bus drivers and the people whom we saw in the performance stopped by each table to ensure we were enjoying our meal and having a good time. At the end of the dinner the bus drivers gave a mini performance of their own with the singing of some traditional Maori music. I found everyone associated with the Tamaki Maori Village (from the bus drivers, to the performers, to the serving staff) to be incredibly warm and friendly and having a geniune interest in sharing their culture with their visitors. I highly recommend a visit if you have an interest in learning about Maori culture.

The next morning I headed to Waitomo for a visit to the glow worm caves. The tourism office had arranged transportation for me with a service called The Waitomo Wanderer . This service, operated by a guy named Mark Pitts-Brown (people call him “Pitzy”), will transport you from you hotel in Rotorua to the attraction of your choice in Waitomo (about a two hour drive) and back to your hotel. Pitzy was a really friendly guy who said he grew up in Waitomo. Maybe MRSTARALLIANCE knows of him. Since I had not decided what attraction I wanted to visit (there are many in Waitomo depending on your interests - see link above) Pitzy gave me a run down of the different attractions. While some on the bus were headed for a wet and wild adventure that including cave rafting, I decided to participate in a tour where I would stay dry. Pitzy suggested a tour called Spellbound which he called an “eco-tour” (about NZ$30). Upon arrival in Waitomo, he took me and several others to the visitor center where we purchased our tour tickets. Pitzy was able to negotiate a small discount on the tour price. A short time a later a man showed up at the center in a small van and took eight of us for a thirty minute drive through the rolling hills to the entrance of a cave, all the while providing commentary on the history of Waitomo and the many caves in the area. As we walked into the cave our guide educated us about the evolution of the caves and about the glow worms. We walked through the cave admiring the beauty of the rock formations, then boarded a raft and floated through the caves enjoying the spectacular glow of the glow worms. After exiting the cave, and before our return drive back to the visitor center, our guide provided us with hot beverages and biscuits (cookies). I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend this tour if you want to visit the caves in a small group with a personal guide rather than in a large group as is offered with tours by other cave operators. Pitzy retrieved us at the visitor center at the arranged time for the long drive back to Rotorua. If you don’t have other transportation to Waitomo, The Waitomo Wanderer is a great way to get there and back.

On day three I headed to the Waiotapu Thermal Reserve and the Waimangu Volcanic Valley . The tourism office had arranged a tour for me that included transportation from my hotel to both sites, including admission. A gentleman with Dave’s Tours (I think that was the name of the business) picked me up at my hotel, and after making a few stops at other hotels to pick up other tour guests drove all of us to the Waiotapu Thermal Reserve. During the twenty minute drive our driver provided us with some interesting tidbits about the history of Rotorua, the geothermal pools, and even some Maori cultural history. He first took us to the daily “old faithful” geyser eruption, waited for us, then took us to the visitor center and said he would return later to take us to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. I spent about 90 minutes walking through the thermal reserve admiring the beautiful geothermal pools containing waters of different colors (see the pictures). At the arranged time, our driver picked us up and drove us to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. The tour of the valley is self guided and is a 90 minute walking tour over dirt trails. The non strenuous hike takes you through a beautiful lush green valley and past famous features of the valley such as Frying Pan Lake and the Inferno Crater as you descend into the valley from the park entrance. There are three “stops” along the way, any of which a bus will retrieve you and drive you back to the visitor center so you don’t have to hike back up the mountain. Right on time, our driver retrieved us for the short drive back to our hotel.

The next day I was off to Wellington…..