Ports of Tauranga/Rotorua/Tga - 6 Hours Rotorua Highlights Tour
Description
Pick up from Ports of Tauranga and travel 40 mins to Okere Falls. Walk down through our native forest to the waterfall that is on the Kaituna River – you may be lucky enough to see some of our local rafters coming over the fall. Next travel into town and head out to visit 3 of our lakes. Stop at the lookout between Blue and Green lakes. Stop at Tarawera Lake lookout for picture opportunities and visit Rangiruru Bay to take some pics on the jetty. Travel into town and walk through the Redwood Forest at your own leisure. At your own expense you can take a tour through the forest from above (this takes 45 minutes). Redwoods Treewalk offers suspended bridges high amongst the trees, adorned with intricate wooden lanterns and history of the trees on each platform between the trees. Head to Rotorua Lakefront/Sulphur Point, take a stroll through Government Gardens, wander through Kuirau Park, and have a foot soak in the heated foot pools and take in the bubbling mud pools.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Walk through our native bush and view the Okere Falls and if you are lucky see some rafts come over the Grade 5 waterfall
Walk through the Redwood Forest at your leisure, or for an additional cost complete the Redwood Treewalk seen here www.treewalk.co.nz
Lake Tikitapu, affectionately known as Blue Lake, is a local favourite and well known to regular visitors to Rotorua. Popular for swimming, boating, trout fishing and water sports, this small circular lake has an easy circuit walking track and links to the mountain bike trail network in Whakarewarewa Forest. The name comes from Māori history.
Rotokākahi means "the lake of the shellfish kakahi". Locals also refer to the lake as the Green Lake. Rotokākahi is sacred to Māori, and Motutawa Island in the middle of the lake is the burial ground of many Māori ancestors. The lake is privately owned by local iwi (tribes) and no swimming, fishing or boating is permitted.
Government Gardens is one of Rotorua’s historic landmarks and most popular tourism destinations. You'll want to have your camera on hand for this spot! Originally known as Paepaekumana, the local Māori iwi (tribe) gifted 50 acres of land to the Crown in the late 1800s “for the benefit of the people of the world”. The land contained a geothermal area with several therapeutic hot pools. Following the ratification of the original gift in 1883, the reserve was vested in the Government of New Zealand in 1898 as an area where the thermal waters could be used and promoted as a health spa similar to those in Europe. One of the most iconic and well photographed buildings in New Zealand
Just beyond the Rotorua Museum and along the south-eastern corner of Lake Rotorua, you’ll find an amazing volcanic playground to explore that’s also home to unique plantlife and threatened birds who’ve adapted in order to survive in this harsh environment
The northern end of Rotorua has a public park that is definitely alive and well. Walking tracks lead to numerous areas of vigorous geothermal activity. Provided you stay on the cool side of the safety fences, visitors are generally quite safe. In early Maori times the small lake in the park was much cooler and was known as Taokahu. Legend tells us that a beautiful young woman named Kuiarau was bathing in the waters when a taniwha (legendary creature) dragged her to his lair below the lake. The gods above were angered and made the lake boil so the Taniwha would be destroyed forever. From that time on, the bubbling lake and the steaming land around it have been known by the name of the lost woman, although the spelling has changed a little.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
ALTHOUGH THE TOUR STATES 9.30AM DEPARTURE THIS WILL VARY DEPENDING ON DOCKING TIMES PLEASE REFER TO OUR CONFIRMATION MESSAGE WITH THE DEPARTURE TIME OF YOUR TOUR Our driver will be standing on the grassed area holding a sign with your name on it. Although the tour time states 9.30am you will be messaged on VIATOR with the pick up time dependant on ship arrival and departure times - please always check your messages once you have booked to see variance of start time.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Travel time is already included in the total duration
- Time for Lunch Break is included
Reviews(39)
One of the best tours in New Zealand in my opinion, beautiful lakes, hot lava and a cafe stop, with a most excellent, gracious and hilarious host Danny!!
The original itinerary was very good. However, the driver-guide didn't manage time well that one spot was skip without prior notice (Government Gardens) and also no time for Treewalk at Redwoods. It should have been a highly recommended tour but because of the above, the value was much reduced. Hope others who are interested in this tour can get a better guide.
Thanks for your feedback. I'm surprised to hear you didn't go to Government Gardens but on checking the vehicle GPS the vehicle did in fact go through Government Gardens. You went through one side and back out the other. You also went down to the Redwoods but the treewalk is not included in the tour only if time permits can we offer that at an additional cost to you. They tour length is 6 hours and you in fact had an 8 hour day so am sure you had ample time to see everything.
I had a private tour with Erin and it was a great experience. She took me to a lot of highlights which were pretty awesome. The weather was super great and I enjoyed it any minute of the tour.
An excellent guide with good knowledge of culture and geography. We were given a choice of activities including visiting lakes, waterfalls, high level walking in Redwood forests and thermal foot baths, plus coffee and bakery. Erin provided snacks and an informative commentary. The history she shared enhanced our tour. A good level of walking, it was most enjoyable in a very comfortable vehicle.
Thanks so much for your review - glad you enjoyed your day out - will pass your feedback on to Erin.
Our guide Danny was excellent. He took care of everyone in the bus making sure we were comfortable. He gave us very good information and even went beyond our expectations. Excellent tour guide.
thanks so much for choosing our tour - glad you enjoyed your day
Our tour guide for the day was Danny who was full of great knowledge and was great fun. Took us many great place such as a kiwifruit farm, geothermal mud pools, many great lakes and the Redwood forest which was amazing.
Thanks for the feedback Gillian, glad you enjoyed your day
The tour was great. We were able to see so many different features of the area. Our guide, Danny, was very knowledgeable and sharedlots of facts.
thanks for taking the time to share your review - glad you enjoyed your day
Lots of stops along the way. The driver was flexible with bathroom breaks and lunch breaks. Our main highlights were the waterfall (here we saw rafters), the redwood forest, and the geothermal lake and foot bath.
We love being there in time for the rafters to come over those falls, they sure add a bit of excitement to the day.
Wonderful experience. The days outing accommodated our cruise schedule. Picked us up early and had us back to ship on time. Enjoyed learning not only about the area but also New Zealand. Amazing tour guide!!!
Glad you enjoyed your time in Rotorua, look us up if you are ever back here
Absolutely amazing tour and definitely the highlight of our vacation. Danny was the ultimate tour guide, providing great insights into each stop so we could appreciate the rich history and culture as well as the current conservation steps being taken to preserve the beauty of the region. It was a small group tour that ended up just being our group so we were able to fine-tune it into the perfect cruise excursion from Tauranga. We were picked up outside the port and returned exactly on time as promised. Highly recommend adding on the optional Redwood Treewalk (no need to pre-purchase the tickets), and if there is time, ask for a stop at award-winning Patrick’s Pies for lunch. 5+ stars!!
Sounds like you had a great day out - thanks so much for the great feedback
