"Hot Springs and Maori culture" Rotorua by Ramonq

click: Maori music

Steamy hot springs, ebullient geysers, glowing caves, bubbling mud pools, soothing spa baths, flowing rivers, fertile green pastures, pristine lakes, rustic Maori villages, verdant lush rainforests, these are some of the things you'll see and experience in the Rotorua region, one of New Zealand's most popular tourist resort town. Located in the Bay of Plenty Region of the country's North Island, Rotorua is a small town but it has so much to offer to the visitors.

The first thing that you'll notice when you arrive in the town of Rotorua is the peculiar foul "rotten egg" smell. It's actually the sulfurous gases that escape from the hot pressure cooker underneath the town! Rotorua sits on a restless thermal activity that sometimes you'll see steam coming out from the town's side streets and I found it quite disconcerting to learn that Rotorua is amidst a restless and flourishing volcanic activity.

Because of its volcanic activities, Rotorua has a lot of hot springs in its vicinity. The town is known to be one of the world's best place to bathe in a natural hot spa. Since the early 20th century, the town has developed a tourism industry that revolves around the hot springs and millions of people have been drawn to the place because of the curative power of its mineral-enriched water. The beautiful Rotorua Baths complex was built in mock Tudor style during the 1920's and this is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand ever since.

Rotorua is also known as the centre for Maori culture. The existence of the hot springs attracted the indigenous Maoris into the site and a Maori culture thrived around the area with many ancient folkloric legends pertaining to the hotsprings were spawned by the tribes. Although the ancient Maori villages were rudimentary and rustic, the social structure and artistic culture were sophisticated. Today, the Maoris in Rotorua have adopted modern Western ways but the descendants are slowly reclaiming some of the ancient oral traditions and the artistic expressions of their ancestors. To experience Maori life, there are a few villages open for tourists such as the "Te Whakarewarewa" and Tamaki.

The land surrounding the town is full of rolling green hills and verdant pastures. Many of the European settlers in this regions have developed an intesive cattle and sheep industry. The land is fertile and utterly green. Driving around the area is so pleasant and relaxing because of the sight of contented cows and sheep grazing on the postcard-perfect countryside pastures. It's the image of New Zealand that we all have come to love.

But also around the region around 2 hours drive from Rotorua, are awesome caves as a result of New Zealand's turbulent tectonic activities. The most popular one is the Waitomo caves and Aranui caves. This is a must for spelunkers and geographers. One will witness cavernous tunnels with lots of stalagmites and stlagtities. One thing peculiar about the caves are these millions of glow-worms clinging onto the ceiling that emit light in the pitch-black cave giving an effect similar to a multitude of stars in the sky.

Rotorua was first settled by the Maori Te Arawa tribe for hundreds of years where they led a semi-rural nomadic existence. The British found the modern town of Rotorua in the 1830's and soon discovered the curative effects of the hot springs. The Te Arawa people were instrumental in bringing the tourism industry into the town and they formed a guild of hospitable tour guides who showed Europeans around the place. Word got around and curious tourists from Europe and America visited Rotorua. The town built lavish baths and Rotorua has never looked back since.

Rotorua today , located in the shore of Lake Rotorua, is a thriving town and tourism still plays an important role in fostering Maori culture and generating income for its citizens. Rotorua has a lot of hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses and other tourist-related activities. The region also relies heavily on agriculture especially cattle farming and animal husbandry. Somehow the two industries do not appear to have anything in common, but the New Zealanders have developed a clever form of tourism called agri-tourism where farmers are glad to show visitors around the farm, at a price, of course.

• Pros:Hot natural spa baths
• Cons:Too popular sometimes
• In a nutshell:The place to learn Maori culture