Rotorua sits on the Taupo Volcanic Zone, a rift where the Pacific plate dives beneath the Australian plate and heat rises close to the surface. The result is a town of 60,000 people living on top of geysers, mud pools and steaming drains, and one of the strongest centres of Maori culture in the country.
Wai-O-Tapu
Twenty-seven kilometres south, Wai-O-Tapu is the most colourful of the thermal parks. The Champagne Pool is 65 m across and 62 m deep, its rim stained orange by antimony and arsenic compounds while the pool itself releases carbon dioxide bubbles at 74 degrees. Nearby, the Artist Palette, the Devil Bath in fluorescent green and the sinter terraces make up a walk of about 90 minutes. The Lady Knox geyser erupts at 10:15 daily with the help of a measure of surfactant, which is honest fun rather than a natural phenomenon.
Te Puia and Pohutu
On the edge of town, Te Puia protects the Whakarewarewa thermal valley and Pohutu, the largest active geyser in the southern hemisphere, which erupts up to twenty times a day to as high as 30 m. Te Puia also houses the national carving and weaving schools, established in 1926 and 1969, where the next generation of Maori artists trains.
Whakarewarewa living village
Next door, a Maori community has lived among the thermal features since the eighteenth century and still cooks in steam boxes and boils food in hot pools. Guided tours are led by residents. It is the most genuine cultural experience in Rotorua precisely because the village is not a reconstruction.
Waimangu
Waimangu Volcanic Valley was created by the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, which destroyed the famous Pink and White Terraces and killed more than 120 people. It is the only hydrothermal system in the world whose entire lifespan has been documented, and it contains Frying Pan Lake, the largest hot spring on earth. The walk is downhill for four kilometres with a shuttle back.
Forest and lakes
The Redwoods at Whakarewarewa Forest were planted from 1901 and now form a grove of Californian coast redwoods with a treewalk suspended among them, spectacular after dark when lit. The forest also holds some of the best mountain-bike trails in the country. Lake Rotorua and the nearby Blue and Green Lakes offer swimming and kayaking.
Hot pools
Polynesian Spa on the lakefront has been operating since 1878 and draws on two springs, one acidic and one alkaline. Free options exist too: Kerosene Creek south of town is a natural hot stream, though it is unsupervised and should not be entered with an open wound or with the head under water.