Rotorua & the Bay of Plenty - New Zealand's North Island - page 576

Tramping
There are plenty of opportunities to stretch your legs around Rotorua, with day walks a
speciality. The booklet Walks in the Rotorua Lakes Area ($2.50), available from the i-
SITE, showcases town walks, including the popular lakefront stroll (20 minutes). See also
www.doc.govt.nz .
The Eastern Okataina Walkway (three hours one way) goes along the eastern shoreline of
Lake Okataina to Lake Tarawera and passes the Soundshell, a natural amphitheatre that
has pa (fortified village) remains and several swimming spots. The Western Okataina Walkway
(five hours one way) mimics this route on the western side of the lake.
The Northern Tarawera Track (three hours one way) connects to the Eastern Okataina Walk-
way, creating a two-day walk from either Ruato or Lake Okataina to Lake Tarawera with
an overnight camp at either Humphries Bay (sites free) or Tarawera Outlet (sites per adult/
child $6/3). From Tarawera Outlet you can walk on to the 65m Tarawera Falls (four hours re-
turn). There's a forestry road into Tarawera Outlet from Kawerau, a grim timber town in
the shadow of Putauaki (Mt Edgecumbe), off the road to Whakatane; access costs $5, with
permits available from the Kawerau visitor centre (

07-323 6300; www.kawerauonline.com ; Plunkett St

bus terminal; 8am-6pm Dec-Mar, 8am-4pm Apr-Nov) .
The Okere Falls are about 21km northeast of Rotorua on SH33, with an easy track (30
minutes return) past the 7m falls (popular for rafting), through native podocarp (conifer)
forest and along the Kaituna River. Along the way is a lookout over the river at Hinemoa's
Steps.
Just north of Wai-O-Tapu on SH5, the Rainbow Mountain Track (1½ hours one way) is a
strenuous walk up the peak known to Maori as Maungakakaramea (Mountain of Coloured
Earth). There are spectacular views from the top towards Lake Taupo and Tongariro Na-
tional Park.
For a short stroll try Hamurana Springs MAP on the northern edge of Lake Rotorua - a sac-
red place for Ngati Rangiwewehi Maori - where there's a 1.5km loop walk alongside gin-
clear springs through a redwood grove.
There are also a couple of good walks at Mt Ngongotaha, 10km northwest of Rotorua:
the easy 3.2km Nature Walk loop through native forest, and the steep 5km return Jubilee Track
to the (viewless) summit. See www.ngongotaha.org .

Fishing