Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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 amphi-
theatre 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
Walkway, 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 return). 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; ac-
cess 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 Col-
oured Earth). There are spectacular views from the top towards Lake Taupo and Tongari-
ro National Park.
Rotorua - a sacred 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
There's always good trout fishing to be had somewhere around Rotorua. Hire a guide or
go solo: either way a licence (per day/half-season/full season $23/73/121) is essential,
(
GOOGLE MAP
07-346 0178;
www.okeefesfishing.co.nz
;
1113 Eruera St;
8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat,
