Published on Dec, 2024
Stephen was our very friendly and knowledgeable guide for this lovely tour. We were looking for something different to do as we are past the age of wanting high adrenaline activities.
We started off at the Hamurana Springs nature reserve, a beautiful, serene place with natural cold springs occurring…and had a sacred place to the iwi of Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
We walked through some extremely tall and beautiful Redwood Trees which made us feel incredibly small!
Stephen talked about the trees, the plants and all the wonderful ferns. He pointed out trees that were used for medicinal purposes but others that were poisonous.
From there we visited the Ōkere Falls, the Tutea Falls, Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) and Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake) and finally Lake Tarawera. Stephen filled us in with the history and flora and fauna of each Lakeside.
There was a reasonable amount of walking so some fitness is needed but well worth it to see the Real Rotorua.