Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
OFFLINE MAP
( 07-333 1861;
www.hotpools.co.nz
;
648 Waikite Valley Rd; public pools adult/child/family $15/
8/38, private pools 40min $18; 10am-9pm)
Around 35km south of Rotorua are these ex-
cellent open-air pools, formalised in the 1970s but utilised for centuries before then.
There are four main pools, two more relaxing, smaller pools, and four private spas, all
ranging from 35°C to 40°C. There's also a cafe and camping (adult/child unpowered
sites $20/10, powered sites $22/12; pools free for campers).
To get here, turn right off SH5 opposite the Wai-O-Tapu turn-off, and continue 6km
(worth the drive if only for the gorgeous valley view as you come over the hill).
BAY OF PLENTY
The Bay of Plenty stretches along the pohutukawa-studded coast from Waihi Beach to
Opotiki and inland as far as the Kaimai Range. This is where New Zealanders have come
on holiday for generations, lapping up salt-licked activities and lashings of sunshine.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Tauranga
POP 114,800
Tauranga (pronounced 'toe-rung-ah') has been booming since the 1990s and remains one
of NZ's fastest-growing cities. It's also NZ's busiest port − with petrol refineries and
mountains of coal and lumber − but it's beach-seeking holidaymakers who have seen the
old workhorse reborn as a show pony. Restaurants and bars line the vamped-up water-
front, fancy hotels rise high, and the once-sleepy burbs of Mt Maunganui and Papamoa
have woken up to new prosperity. This is about as Riviera as NZ gets. Online,
www.downtowntauranga.co.nz
is a commercial but useful resource.
