Rotorua

Rotorua (from Māori: Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, “The second great lake of Kahumatamomoe”) is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region.

The city is known for its geothermal activity, with number of geysers, notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa, and hot mud pools located in the city. This thermal activity owes itself to the Rotorua caldera on which the city lies.

Rotorua city is renowned for its unique sulphur aroma, which is caused by the geothermal activity releasing hydrogen sulphide into the atmosphere.

Kahumatamomoe was the uncle of the Māori chief Ihenga, the ancestral explorer of the Te Arawa. It was the second major lake the chief discovered, and he dedicated it to his uncle. It is the largest of a multitude found to the northeast of the city, all connected with the Rotorua Caldera and nearby Mount Tarawera. The name can also mean the equally appropriate ‘crater lake’.

Geothermal Areas

Thermal activity is at the heart of much of Rotorua’s tourist appeal. Geysers and bubbling mud-pools, hot thermal springs and the Buried Village (Te Wairoa) – so named after it was buried by the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption – are within easy reach of the city.

Kuirau Park, to the west end of the central city, is also remarkable – hot bubbling mud pools dot the park, lending a surreal air to the setting. Visitors can soak their feet in hot pools. (One such pool is called “Tikitere” or “Hell’s Gate”).

Rotorua has a nickname Sulphur City, because of the hydrogen sulphide emissions, which gives the city a “rotten eggs” smell.

The especially pungent smell in the central-east ‘Te Ngae’ area is due to the dense sulphur deposits located next to the southern boundary of the Government Gardens, in the area known as ‘Sulphur Point’.

Lakes

With 17 lakes, the Rotorua region is an aquatic paradise.