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All Leisure pursuits featured on this page and throughout New Zealand and Australia can be booked through Go-Kiwi Travel UK and when added to your account will qualify for a total bookings discount. |
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Steeped in the history and legend of the Maori people as a place of creation, Rotorua is one of the most geothermally active places on the face of the Earth. Lake Rotorua is at the centre of the North Island of New Zealand and in the surrounding area you can see many incredible natural sights including geysers, hot springs and seething pools of hot mud that ooze up to the surface. An understandably popular place to spend a few days while touring New Zealand, Rotorua is a unique region where the myths of the Maori people were first written, amid the prehistoric landscape and volcanoes nature. As one of the premier holiday destinations in the southern hemisphere, there is plenty to see and do for visitors to the unique area no matter what their interests. If you are a fan of natural processes, then the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve is the place to go to see the world in action, but there are also places where you can lie back and enjoy the naturally heated water in a spa bath, or be covered in the sulphurous mud from deep within the earth. Slightly further away from Rotorua, you can visit Lake Taupo, which boasts some of the best fishing in the southern hemisphere - especially for brown trout, and further South in the volcano area of the Tongariro Crossing, you can hike through perhaps the most stunning landscape anywhere. If you are keen to see the Maori culture then head to Te Tawa Ngahere Pa where you can listen to traditional tribal songs and enjoy a traditional Maori Hangi Feast organised by Go-Kiwi Travel and Tamaki Tours. There is nowhere like Rotorua anywhere in the world, a place so filled with myth, yet so active too. The region is somewhere that no visitor to New Zealand should miss out on. Please click on the links for full details
Spirit of the Earth - All about Rotorua Skyline Gondula Rides & Restaurant Eating Out, Why Not Try Wild Rice Thai Cuisine ? Experience the real taste of Thai in an intimate restaurant at Wild Rice Thai Cuisine. Conveniently located at the lake end of Tutanekai Street in Rotorua’s café and restaurant quarter, Wild Rice Thai Cuisine brings the exceptional taste and service of Thailand to Rotorua residents and visitors alike. Wild Rice Thai Cuisine is an intimate dining experience for couples and small groups, but can also cater to large groups. The mixed menus available for birthdays, anniversaries and weddings have something for everyone in the group and are a specialty of Wild Rice Thai Cuisine. Dine in patrons can BYO bottle or take advantage of the licensed bar. For diners wanting a meal on the run Wild Rice offers a takeaway menu and delivery service. Lunch specials (2007 prices) starting from NZ$9.50 - Open seven days a week for LUNCH 11.30am – 2.30pm and DINNER 5.30pm – till late.
Contact details: Phone: (7) 349 6482 Email: wildricethai@yahoo.co.nz Address: 1114 Tutanekai St, Rotorua, New Zealand.
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Thermal Spings Rotorua |
WELLINGTONThe earliest name for Wellington, from Maori legend, is Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui. In Maori it means ‘the head of Maui's fish’. Caught and pulled to the surface by Polynesian navigator Maui, the fish became the North Island.
The Polynesian explorer Kupe is credited with the initial discovery of Wellington Harbour. From Maori tradition it is estimated he arrived with his followers around the 10th century. Several places around the Wellington peninsula were named by Kupe - for example Matiu (Somes) Island and Makaro (Ward) Island. People have lived here since Kupe's discovery.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara (the great harbour of Tara) is another Maori name for Wellington. Tara was the son of Whatonga, another Polynesian migrant, who had settled in Hawke’s Bay. Whatonga sent Tara on a tour of inspection of the lower North Island in the 12th century. After a year Tara returned and reported that the best place he had seen was ‘at the very nostrils of the island’. As a result Whatonga and his followers shifted south - the first iwi (tribe) in Wellington was thus Ngai Tara.
Today the Manawhenua (local guardianship) interests in Wellington city are administered by the Wellington Tenths Trust/Nga Tekau o Poneke, which comprises descendants from Taranaki iwi, of which Te Atiawa is the largest. Ngati Toa, by virtue of its boundary to the west, also has an interest within Wellington city. In addition, Maori with tribal affiliations stretching from the Far North to the Deep South live and work in Wellington and contribute to the cultural diversity of the city.
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