Rotorua, New Zealand

Rotorua highlights

Hobbiton
Te Waihou
Skyline
Lakefront Playground
Mountain Biking
Redwood Tree Walk

Why visit Rotorua?

For fun-filled adrenaline activities and outdoor adventures.

Getting there and around

We hired a small SUV car from Apex for 28 days. We booked the hire car 9 months in advance, and paid £1517, which worked out at £54 per day. The car came with a full tank of petrol and the price included car seats, unlimited mileage, zero excess, roadside assistance, and ferry tickets for us and the car from North to South Island.

After our time in Waihi and the Coromandel peninsular, we spent £55 on petrol to top up the tank, and drove from Waihi Beach to Rotorua which took 2.5 hours (not including the stops at Hobbiton and Putaruru).

Accommodation

We stayed at the Ramada Wyndham Resort outside of the main town centre of Rotorua. Being out of town meant that we were further from restaurants and activities but it was extremely peaceful and tranquil.

The resort was in a beautiful setting and consisted of a number of holiday homes arranged attractively around canals and the lakeside.

We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo for 4 nights at a cost of £240 per night. This was expensive compared to other accommodation nearby but the house was surprisingly big and came with a very well equipped kitchen. It had a large double bedroom and a kids’ room with two single beds. It had great amenities including a washing machine, drier, sun deck and jetty, TVs, sound system, and free wi-fi.

The resort facilities included tennis courts, a gym, swings, giant chess set, board games and DVD library, a pool, and a cafe.

Our star rating: 5

Our cost rating: 4

Ramada Rotorua

Hobbiton

We set off from Waihi Beach and drove south and inland to Matamata where Hobbiton, the movie set tour, is located. We booked our tickets online a couple of months ahead of our trip. Tickets cost £48 for adults and £23 for children aged 9 and over. Children aged 8 and under were free.

Before our tour we looked at the themed goods in the shop, had some cake for elevenses in the Shire’s Rest cafe, and sent a postcard to a family member who is a big LOTR fan (postcards and stamps were sold in the shop).

Then we met our kind and friendly tour guide Kate and got on the tour bus along with 25 other people in our tour group. The bus takes just five minutes to reach the start of the walking tour.

The tour lasted about 2 hours. Kate took us on a walk through the Shire - past 44 hobbit holes including Bilbao’s House, to the Party Field with the Party Tree, and finally to the Green Dragon Pub for a complimentary drink. The pub served Southfarthing beer exclusively brewed in Hamilton for the pub. Non-alcoholic drinks were also available.

This was a cute and fun experience and New Zealander’s are rightfully proud of having the movies made in their country. The views were gorgeous and the gardeners do a fantastic job keeping the flowers and landscape in pristine condition. Some of the gardens could have exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show! It was easy to see why this beautiful farm was chosen as the filming location for the Shire.

Te Waihou

After Hobbiton, we drove for 30 minutes to Te Waihou. We parked at the Leslie Road Car Park which was a short 15 minute walk from the blue spring pools.

Note, there is another car park at Whites Road for a longer 1.5 hour walk.

The water was crystal clear and an amazing blue colour. It would have been great to swim in the pools here but there were signs up asking people not to swim to protect the water quality and ecosystem, which we respected.

We spent a short while admiring the gorgeous view and taking photos. We’d highly recommend this beautiful spot for a quick break from the car and excellent photo opportunity.

Skyline

We spent almost a whole day at Skyline, a mountaintop adrenaline activity centre. There were various ticketing options and the best value packages were those that included the gondola and multiple luge rides. Small kids could ride tandem for a cheaper ticket.

We took the gondola up to the top of the mountain and admired the views.

Then we went on the luge. There were five luge tracks to choose from, each with varying gradients, tunnels, chicanes, and twists and turns. At the bottom of the luge track are ski-style chair lifts to take you back to the top again. The rider controls the speed of the kart with an easy braking system.

Max decided he’d rather ride tandem with a parent and this was a good decision as it meant he could enjoy the ride without worrying about how to drive! William went in his own cart.

Both kids had a fantastic time and asked to ride again and again. Harriet went on the zoom zip line - a 60km/h ride over 400m. It was an exhilarating experience!

Lakefront playground

This was a fantastic park and playground in Rotorua with loads of different play equipment, a great bike/scooter track, a drinks kiosk and views of the lake.

The park was pristine and the playground was well used but looked brand new. We visited this playground twice during our time in Rotorua because it was so good.

Mountain Biking

For Mal’s 40th birthday we headed to the Whakarewarewa Forest and hired bikes at Rotorua Mountain Biking (£15 for a child bike, £50 for an adult e-bike).

We tackled the kids’ loop and then went on to the 7.5km Tahi trail. This was Max’s first time mountain biking and these were great beginner trails. They were still challenging though! Max came off his bike once on a big downhill and had a pretty nasty scrape down his side; but he was resilient and persevered to finish the trail. The riding really built up his confidence on the bike and by the end he was shouting instructions to us.

Mal and William then took the challenge up a notch and rode the 4.4km Creek Trail which is a grade 2 trail (with optional grade 3 extension). They found this tougher going and more technical, but still managed to complete it. William did fantastically well to power up big hills and negotiate the tricky sections.

The Whakarewarewa Forest is a temperate rainforest with spectacular redwoods and fern trees. It was Disney’s filming location for Pete’s Dragon.

The peace, tranquility and beauty of the forest along with the fun cycling made this a wonderful outdoor experience.

Redwood Treewalk

We returned to the Whakarewarewa forest at sunset, for the Redwood Treewalk. After buying our tickets (£50 for a family), we waited for dusk to fall.

The Treewalk route is 700m long and takes you high up among 75m tall redwood trees via suspended bridges and platforms. At night, the Treewalk is illuminated by lanterns and projections designed by David Trubridge.

We were glad we went to the Treewalk at dusk to see the forest at night time. The lanterns complemented the natural surroundings and created an ethereal and enchanting atmosphere.

This was a breathtaking, captivating and mesmerising experience. It was an absolute highlight for us, we loved it.

Final Thoughts

Rotorua and the surrounding area is packed with awesome things to do with kids. We had a very busy few days and lots of fun visiting Hobbiton, going on the luge and gondola, mountain biking, and experiencing the Treewalk.

Rotorua is also famous for its geothermal activity and Māori heritage. If we had more time we would have visited Wai O Tapu Geothermal Park where there are coloured pools and a geyser that erupts every morning; and Te Puia where there is another geyser and also Māori artisans and guides.

The Whakarewarewa Forest exceeded our expectations, and we highly recommend visiting both during the day and at night for different experiences.