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17 Holdens Avenue, Holdens Bay, Rotorua, New Zealand
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of people enjoy staying here
16 Opinions
so small cant open the door - briggs lakeside cott
Ohinemutu Marae
Interior of a room (photo from the motel website)
Thermal Hot Springs
In the 1800's the most exciting place to go on your visit to Rotorua would be Lake Tarawera, which was the gateway to the Pink and White Terraces. Today however with the eruption of the volcano that covered the terraces, Lake Tarawera has slipped into a quiet little lake area.
There are several little coves and bays for you to enjoy a picnic or view Mount Tarawera from, however there are not many activities to do here.
One of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand was the evening that we spent at the Tamaki Maori Village. The evening starts as if each one of the tourists is a member of an arriving clan, and a welcome ceremony is performed. I had the honor of being a "chief" and my duties were to stand before the chief of Tamaki while he performed his traditional chants and war poses. As a welcoming process, the Tamaki chief was to find out our intentions for visit, whether hostile or passive.
After he finds out we are there to celebrate we are welcomed into his village and treated to some traditional village celebrations and village activities. The villagers then perform these traditions in front of us on stage.
From here, we go on to dinner. The traditional Maori feast looks very similar to American Thanksgiving.
I would highly recommend this activity if you are going to Rotorua.
If you want to get a sample of Maori cultural experience, it is definitelty better in my opinion, to go for the Te Whakarewarewa Cultural Village rather than the Tamaki Village Life experience.. I've been to both and been to Te Whakarewarewa twice.
In Whakarewarewa, they will have various Maori Village buildings as well as a Maori Warrior welcome before the cultural show.
There is also demonstration of various maori crafts such as basket weaving, green stone carving etc etc. In additional within the compound you can also go for a walk in the thermal fields ie mudpools, steaming pools , geysers.. The picture on my main page of the geyser is taken at Whakarewarewa.
If you are in Rotorua Easter Sunday there is a performance at night called Jambalaya. There are performers from all over the world (many from Brazil). There is lots of drumming and dancing. The performers wear cool costumes and some even juggle fire.
We happened to find out about the parade when we were walking back to our hotel. It was really worth watching. The whole procession took about 30 minutes.
The parade took place at night and started near the water on Tutanekai Street.
Rainbow Springs has quite a show of New Zealand's natural flora and fauna including tuataras. You can also feed giant Rainbow trout in crystal clear spring water. Rainbow Farm Show is a 'hands-on' experience which introduces you to New Zealand's farming history. There is also the World of Bees to see.
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Q: Few Hours in Rotorua!! "We are a family of 9 (4 adults, 1 senior and 4 children between 8-15 years), from INDIA. We shall be arriving in Rotorua on the..."
A: "With so little time on your hand I would suggest only a few things. 1. You can visit a cultural Maori show at the Tamaki Village in the evening. 2. As distances are..."
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