Rotorua, New Zealand the land of lakes, mountain biking, and forests may make you think that it is quite hard to find something to do with kids when traveling. You can refer to some tips below to plan your trip with the family. Nowadays, Rotorua has over 34% Maori people in total their population, this affects their culture and traditional hāngi (steam-cooked banquets) as attractive as the landscape itself.
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| From https://rotoruaducktours.co.nz/ |
New Zealand is located in the Southern Hemisphere, the weather in contrast to the weather of most countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Rotorua is inland from the coast and is sheltered by high country to the south and east, resulting in less wind than many other places in New Zealand. This town is the most dynamic geothermal area of New Zealand which annual average of 2117 sunshine hours and an average annual rainfall of 1400mm. Rainfall is spread out throughout the year, with the winter months receiving slightly more. The best time to visit Rotorua should be from October to March which is from October to December is the Spring season with the temperature from 13 – 21 degrees that quite good for some sightseeing activities. While January to March is summertime with the temperature is from 20 – 29 degrees that quite suitable for outdoor activities.
To preparing for your family trip to Rotorua, you can search for some places that suitable for your kids and add in your plan in New Zealand.
1. Places in Hobbiton Movie
Surely among us, we all know about the famous movie The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, and definitely, you will be more excited to know that most of the filming of the place is in Rotorua. You can’t wait to see how your kids surprise when they can see the iconic locations such as the Hobbit Holes, The Green Dragon Inn, and The Mill in real life. Why not take as many photos as you can with your family when you come here and keep the good memories in your family album?
2. Waitomo Glowworm Caves
On the North Island of New Zealand have a glowworm Caves is called Waitomo. This cave opens for tourism to visit with the tour in a boat ride that attracts over a million tourists annually year. They organize for guests to ride on the boat in 45 minutes downstream inside the Waitomo Caves and you can watch glowworms illuminate on the ceiling of the caves. Taking this chance to tell your kids that they are not dreaming since whatever they see now is real. A million of magical light illuminated by the glowworms that your kids can see in Waitomo caves much better than the laser or led light that they could ever see in some game or VR digital exhibition, this is totally natural.
3. Agrodome Farm
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| From https://www.ikiwitravel.co.nz/ |
If you want your kids to enjoy the fresh air of the farm life and explore how the farmers take care and collect fleece, you can choose Agrodome Farm which includes the show and take around to discover the farm on a jeep. At the farm, your children can see as many cute animals that they may ever see them in animation films, but at this time, totally in real life. You can see alpacas, sheep, ostriches, or let your kids be a nursery to take care of baby animals by feeding baby lambs, hand-milking a cow, and more! You can buy the show ticket to let the kids watch the show with the performance of cute animals and know about the way they collect fleece and the reason why we need to do it frequently.
4. ZORB Inflatable Ball Adventure
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| From http://whippermans.blogspot.com/ |
If you think that enough to enjoy the nature of Rotorua, and you need to thrill or adventure games for your kids, you shouldn’t miss ZORB Inflatable Ball experience that is the craziest thing quite suitable for a whole family. Go inside the ZORB inflatable ball with 2 options for choosing: H2OGO water-filled ball or stay dry inside a DRYGO, after that, you can roll down from the steep hill with excited yelling out loud. However, this game is not suitable for kids under 6 years old and people have some conditions such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, dislocations, pregnancy, heart conditions,… you should read the terms carefully before booking this game. The best thing about this game that you can enjoy by the group if the total weight is not over 250kg, means that you can experience with your kids.
5. Skyline Gondola
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| From https://www.skyline.co.nz/ |
The best way to see a spectacular view of Rotorua is by using Skyline Gondola to admire the mountain Ngongotaha’s view and the city skyline. Your kids will be more excited when they ride this Gondola with you and enjoy the view around with many lakes beyond and the mountain slowly nearly to them on the way of rope. You will be surprised by the green that covers almost 3/4 the land when you can see it from the sky. Your family can enjoy some meal at the restaurant on top when arriving and take a rest before going down.
6. Mitai Maori Village
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| From https://mustdonewzealand.co.nz/ |
If you haven’t had any plans in the evening, you can consider visiting Mitai Maori Village at night. This will be the best experience ever on your Rotorua trip! The culture of local Maori is always making curious for everyone in the Earth, and this is a good chance not only for you but also your kids can join in the explore their culture with traditional ‘waka’ or warrior canoe welcoming performance, the lifting of the hangi during a feast served from the traditional ground oven, or watch the powerful Haka dance from the Maori. Your family can enjoy the meal, seeing the glowworms illuminate their natural habitat and the stories about Maori people.
7. Ruakuri Cave
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| From https://www.bushandbeach.co.nz/ |
If you have a passion for discovering the caves, you also can visit Ruakuri Cave – the largest cave in North New Zealand that was explored by the Maori since 400 – 500 years ago. Ruakuri Caves is significant spiritually being a sacred burial site with stalactites and stalagmites that were formed millions of years ago, all these elements in adding to the beauty of this cave system. Besides that, the kids also can see many glowworm caves were covered with pinpricks of light, giving the effect of a starry night in real life. Your family should prepare ready for this trip since you may walk in long distance with many staircases inside the cave.
8. Rainbow Springs Nature Park
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| From https://mustdonewzealand.co.nz/ |
New Zealand has a diverse nature with many unique species that are not like other countries or regions. Rotorua was situated among native flora and rainforest, navigate between the colorful bird aviaries to the reptiles and springs filled with trout. Don’t miss this chance to visit the Nature Park and learn about the wild nature of this area. Especially, Kiwi – the name an animal that is quite famous in this country, this is not a fruit, this is really a bird. Do you want to show them to your kids? Let bring your kids to discover Rainbow Springs Nature Park and learn about the Rainbow Springs kiwi conservation program.
9. Duck tour
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| From https://www.rotoruanz.com/ |
Have you ever heard about ‘duck car’, a vehicle that can drive both on land and water? This should be quite excited when hearing, and you should try it at least one time in your life with your loved ones. It’s called duck tour too, that they will operate for a city tour in both land and water and let you see from Maori landmarks, hot springs, shootings geysers, and mud pools to visit Lake Tikitapu and Lake Okareka that you don’t need to hop on or hop off the vehicle since this special ‘ducks’ provide the possibility of conquering the best of Rotorua. Taking this chance to enjoy a fun and unique experience with your kids in a special van.
10. Lakeland Queen Cruise
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| From https://www.bookme.co.nz/ |
You are traveling to Rotorua, the land of lakes, mountains, and caves. So, why not try to downstream on the lake in cruise to admire the panoramic views of Rotorua, you’ll be able to spot Sulphur Bay, Kawaha Point, and Mokoia Island. Your family also can enjoy the buffet on the cruise that you can choose for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner in an hour when the cruise takes around for you and your family to see all the landscapes.
Traveling to Rotorua, New Zealand with family is the best choice for the families which is preferred to enjoy nature and explore the unique things in the Southern Hemisphere. You can find some activities that are really suitable for doing with kids in the list above and add in your list to plan the trip better. Whatever things that you want to choose, it will be definitely will bring to your family the good memories ever in Rotorua with your kids.