Rotorua has been a tourist town since the 1870s due to the thermal and geologic wonders here. It also has strong Maori presence and history. But it was a bit challenging for us, probably in part because the tourist trade is so well established. While we are willing to participate in organized activities, we prefer to explore places at our own pace and in our own way. It took a little doing to figure out how to do that in Rotorua — everything seemed set up for tours. But we managed to see some cool stuff on our own terms.
The Rotorua Museum occupies what was an elegant resort called the Bath House. The permanent exhibits include one on the history of the resort and an excellent set of galleries devoted to the Te Arawa people, the first (and still very current) inhabitants of the region.
The old Bath House, now the Rotorua Museum.
Upstairs in the museum.
Taking the mud, back in the good old days.
The temporary exhibit that caught my fancy was “Every Tea Towel Tells a Story.” This is an exhibit of a portion of Richard Till’s personal tea towel collection. (Richard Till is a New Zealand celebrity chef.) Tea towels have been used to commemorate all kinds of events, from the local annual A&P (Agricultural and Pastoral) Show to Charles & Diana’s wedding. After seeing this exhibit, I noticed that every gift shop I visited for the rest of the trip had souvenir tea towels for sale.
The Rotorua Museum is set amidst Government Gardens, a large expanse of gardens, bowling greens, outdoor sculptures, and steaming thermal pools. We explored the gardens a few times, finding new wonders each time.
Museum and gardens.
Government Gardens, with the Rotorua Museum in the background.
Besides wonderful plantings, Government Gardens has a number of thermal features, which we could often find by first smelling the sulfurous fumes. There are also a few areas containing sculptures. Exploring was a little like an Easter Egg Hunt!
Thermal feature
Sculpture garden
Sculpture garden
Sculpture garden
Traditional sculpture
Traditional sculpture
The town of Rotorua sits on the south shore of Lake Rotorua. We also enjoyed exploring along the lake shore.
Watching the swan watching us. Lots of black swans on Lake Rotorua.
Impressive waka (Maori canoe).
Hot water draining into Sulfur Bay, keeping the waterfowl warm.
There are many geothermal parks around Rotorua one can visit, but one delightful stop is completely free: the Mud Pool. I’m sorry I can’t include the sound of bubbling mud. Blerp, blerp, blerp.
The bubbling mud pool near Wai-O-Tapu, south of Rotorua.
Closer to the mud.
Bubbling mud in action
Riding Around 
“Rotorua”. The name sounds too much like “roto-rooter” to be a beautiful place, but I was surprised by Tom’s great photos that changed my mind. Many thanks. Don