4 Days Around Rotorua & Taupo
New Zealand Travel Itinerary & Guide
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4 Days in Rotorua & Taupo, New Zealand
Located in the North Island of New Zealand, this volcanic region hosts numerous wonders that you won’t see anywhere else in the world (#teaser). It is also a great place to learn about Maori culture. Check this out !
Day 1:
Visit of the town of Rotorua (or “the city that smells the rotten egg”), including its geothermal parks and its Maori buildings. And of course, a Maori restaurant to try the “Hangi”. Finally, sleep on the shore of a beautiful lake.
Kuirau Park
In this free park, you will find various signs that you are walking on a volcanic field : boiling mud pools, fumeroles and an impressive little smoking lake. This pleasant walk will probably take you around an hour and a half and maybe even make you forget the strong smell of sulfur all around
Rotorua Lake
Try to park as close as possible to Oruawhata street (on the lake shore) and start walking with the lake on your left. The little path goes around the golf course (watch your head) and will be a good activity to open your appetite (you will need it!). A lot of birds can be spotted around. It is also possible to do it biking, possibly with a guide that will explain the different geothermal effects along the way.
Kiwi Kai
If you are into local gastronomy (aboriginal one, not fish and chips), you will want to try the Hangi. Warning : for strong stomachs only. It is a mix of meat (chicken or beef or lamb) with sweet potatoes, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, etc. cooked altogether in an oven warmed by volcanic rocks. Interesting !
Discover Maori Architecture
After lunch, we slowly headed uphill, taking Lake Rd. We reached a fantastic lookout over the lake, Saint Faith’s church and Maori buildings (see pictures). Going down, we passed several amazing Maori houses, carved in red wood. Thermal activity all around makes the place feel even more special. The anglican church and its cemetry are also worth a stop.
Sleep at lake Okareka
Since we were in a campervan but most importantly on a budget, we always aimed at free campgrounds (a lot of campgrounds in NZ charge between 8 and 15NZ$ per person, sometimes more!). Thanks to the Campermate app, we found this free campground right on the shore of lake Okareka. It was a perfect location to enjoy the great views at dusk and dawn.
Day 2:
Be ready for a day of impressive landscapes, unreal colors and incredible volcanic events (yeah, all that!)
Waiotapu Geothermal Park
In our opinion, this was the best park around. Make sure to arrive a bit before 10 at the main entrance to buy your ticket (32.5NZ$). Time is important because the entrance ticket includes an access to the “Lady Knox geyser”, that erupts every day at 10.15am sharp. After the show, get back to the park and follow one of the 3 paths that takes you to all the marvels (since you’re here, we advise you take the longest route so you can see everything). You’ll be given a leaflet with scientific (but understandable) explanations of each point of interest. At the end, there are picnic tables close to the carpark.
Waimangu Hike
We had a good deal on the entrance fee by booking with bookme.nz a couple of days before going. The place itself is a nice park with a hike downhill that will take you to some enjoyable points of views over a volcano in a lake, but most importantly to another lake that has an unreal blue color. At the end of the track, we reached a pond where it’s possible to board a boat and have a little cruise time there (extra cost). To come back to the entrance, you can either walk the same way back, or take a free shuttle.
Day 3:
Getting closer to Taupo : Huka falls, sunny brunch close to the lake and afternoon dip into natural hot springs.
Huka Falls
Go there in the early morning to avoid the crowds, since the platform where you see the best isn’t that large. We arrived just after sunrise at the Huka falls. There are a couple of short walks you can take there, but we sticked to watching the impressive flow of pristine blue water for a quite long time. It’s said that the water flowing there could fill up several olympics pools each second (I haven’t made the calculation myself though).
Lake Taupo
Taupo has a nice seaside vibe floating around (even if it’s a lake’s shore). The lakefront road has a bunch of terrasses you can enjoy a brunch on. Alternatively, you can also have a mcdonald’s in an old plane (it’s true, check it for yourself)
Hot Springs
To get there : going up Spa rd, you’ll reach a park on your left. Go park your car as far as you can (last carpark). Then put on your swimsuit and walk downhill for 5 minutes. The natural hot springs are located under the bridge. The access is totally free and the temperatures will reach 40 degrees Celsius. If it’s too hot for you, no worries, just swim towards the icy Waikato river to cool down.
Day 4:
Tongariro 20km hike! Probably one of the most beautiful hikes you will ever do!
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Try to go there during the week to avoid weekenders crowd.
This one requires a bit of logistics. First of all, try to sleep close to the national park. Since you have to be there quite early, don’t indulge yourself 1h drive before the walk. Second, book a shuttle, because the hike isn’t a loop. In the morning, drive to the end of the trail, park there, take the shuttle that brings you to the starting point, and there you go !
The trail is really easy to follow, impossible to get lost. The beautiful thing is that the landscape changes completely as you go forward. From hilly plains, to moon surface, to incredible coulourful lakes, to a forest. You won’t even notice you have walked 20 km on the end ! (That’s a lie, your legs do make you notice). It will take you between 6 and 9 hours to complete the hike (took us 6h30). After that, we had some rest and directly drove to Wellington the day after.
Tips and Tricks:
- Use the app “Campermate” to find the best official spots to sleep, but also for secret spots for activities (for example the hot springs)
- Use the website “bookme.nz” to spot special deals on activities you want to do (park entrances but also bungie jumping, rafting, … all around NZ)