A most wonderful tour. All the attractions of the Rotorua Tour, but this time, we'll go all the way to the gem of Hawkes Bay: Napier.

Our itinerary will take us through Mercer, Huntly, Taupiri, Ngaruawahia, Cambridge and Tirau before we arrive at Rotorua

We'll be stopping along the way so you can experience New Zealand first hand and of course enjoy the sights and take photographs.

In Mercer we'll meet the Great Waikato River for the first time and enjoy and photograph views of the beautiful countryside beyond the Waikato bridge. We can get a taste of the famous Mercer Cheese too...

In Huntly we'll meet the Waikato river again and admire the chimneys of the Power Station.

Driving past Taupiri and Ngaruawahia we'll learn about Maori History and traditions.

In Cambridge, we rest over a coffee and check out the curios and crafts at the Country Store.

From the moment we arrive in Rotorua, we sense that this is a unique, special place... Steam rises from cracks, gardens and pathways and, the distinctive scent of sulphur permeates the air.

We spend the night in Rotorua and in the morning head to one of the highlights of our Tour: The Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland..

This is a lifetime experience, akin to landing on another planet. At our own pace, we walk, learn, absorb and photograph this unique land: geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations including the world famous Champagne Pool.

Parting with Wai-O-Tapu is difficult, but at some point we must embark on our way back to Auckland... This is where the Base Tour ends.

Read on about the Extended Tour Option:

If you have booked the Extended Tour Option, you are in for a real treat. We continue with a visit to the Polynesian Spa for a relaxing afternoon at hot mineral pools and a Rotorua Thermal Mud body polish - the perfect finish of a perfect day

This is a big one! This day, you go on a helicopter ride that will land you on the White Island active volcano where you will enjoy a guided tour of the volcano rim followed by a scenic flight over the Mt Tarawera volcano and the lakes before returning to Rotorua.

Then its time to continue towards Napier. . On the way, we'll drive through Taupo and we'll enjoy and photograph the lake views. On a good day the snow clad peaks of Mt Tongariro are a perfect backdrop.

We start the day by checking out the best scenic spots, followed by a walk through the city Art Deco trails.

Then we visit the National Aquarium of New Zealand and the little known Opossum World.

A tour of the best Napier wineries with some fine wine tasting will be the best way to finish the day and make our way back to Auckland.

Depending on season, weather and your personal preferences our itinerary may change.

Mercer

Huntly

Huntly its famous for its power station. New Zealand has considerable reserves of coal, some of which is mined near Huntly in the Waikato. The Power station uses primarily on coal to generate power. Sited on the banks of the Waikato River, It was commissioned in 1983, and has a turbine hall 403 m long and chimneys 150 m high..

Taupiri

Taupiri is the sacred mountain of the Waikato people. It is remembered in the tribal saying:

Waikato is the river
Taupiri is the mountain
Te Wherowhero is the man.

Many Waikato ancestors and chiefs are buried on Taupiri, including all the Maori kings, and the late queen, Dame Te Ātairangikahu.

Ngaruawahia

Ngaruawahia is situated at the junction of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers in the central Waikato basin.
Because of its situation at the junction of two important canoe waterways, Ngaruawahia was an important Maori settlement in early times.

Te Wherowhero, a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato tribes was invested at Ngaruawahia as Maori King with the title Potatau I.

During the Waikato War the village was fortified with extensive earthworks to repel the advance of the force commanded by General Sir Duncan Cameron.

The name Ngaruawahia means “Break open the food pits”

Cambridge

Tirau

Tirau is a bustling little town where the creative use of corrugated iron has created a new reality. A myriad of little shops, galleries, bookstores and cafes makes it a must stop for the traveler.

small attractive township in a rural setting, with the Kaimai ranges as a backdrop. It has a population of apr. 800 people.

Rotorua

From the moment visitors enter Rotorua, they know they are somewhere unique. Steam rises from cracks, gardens, pathways and even residential streets. This, together with the distinctive scent of sulphur, signals to visitors that they are in the centre of an active thermal area.

Just minutes from city centre there are geysers, boiling pools of mud, silica terraces, mud fumeroles and volcanoes.

Napier

Napier is known as the Art Deco Capital of the world. After the devastating earthquake in 1931, Napier was rebuilt to its former glory.
Nowhere else can you see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s - Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission, and above all Art Deco, the style of the 20th Century. Napier's Art Deco is unique, with Maori motifs and the buildings of Louis Hay, admirer of the great Frank Lloyd Wright.

Possums

A possum is a small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia and New Guinea. It was introduced to New Zealand by European settlers in an attempt to establish a fur industry. They escaped into the wild, where they are thriving.

The negative:
Every night in New Zealand, 70 million opossums eat 21,000 tonnes of vegetation. This is the equivalent of 3 rugby fields of trees.

The positive:
The possum fur has a hollow core, the hollow core traps a tunnel of air that provides extraordinary warmth. The only other animal with hollow core fur is the Polar Bear.
There is an enzyme on the opossum fur that according to scientific tests has been reputed to combat skin diseases.