ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 559, 16 June 1933, Page 8

ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

wonderful charm and infin1te variety j | of scenes i

IDEAL HOLIDAY RESORT j 1 1 i

a Rotorua and its environs have been 1 so generously endowed by prodigal | nature that the limitations of space | prove a definite handicap to a complete description of its charms, t Rotorua town 'is set on the shores of Lake Rotorua, f amous • in Maori Itradition, a lovely stretch -of pure water relieved by beautiful Mokoia k Island, a background poem in green. The town is a prosperous borough of 5150 inhabitants. It has all the amenities of a niodern town, including many comfortable hotels and ac- • commodation houses run on sound / lines and catering for the visitor's f every comfort. It is served well by j luxurious express trains and serviee I! cars. i Sporting Attractions. Apart from the scenie and thermal aspects of the area, Rotorua is a veri itable sportsmen's Mecca. The many | lakes and streams in the clistriet are ; teeming with the famcus fighting rainj bow trout. This, the gamest of all | | fresh-water fish, reaches great size in 1 Rotorua waters, 10-pounders being f i commonplace, and fish as heavy as 1 j 261b have been taken. Angling for % these fresh-water fighters in the syl- / van setting of the Rotorua lakes and I streams with their backgrounds of 1 | sun-kissed hills and almost tropical I bush, is a sheer pleasure and a real J mental tonic. | The golfer wh'o visits Rotorua inr l ; variably comes back again, and why' ) , should he not, for in Rotorua he has ' a 'course unique in hazards and fasj ' cinating in lay-out Where else in ^ the world can be found such undula- | tions of velvet fairways, intercepted, | perhaps, by here a hot pool, and there | a smoking geyser or a muttering mud jj pool? This is Arikikapakapa the main : course, but 011 the shores of the lake | * there is another fine nine-hole course | 1 named Motutara., which also has its | j spec.ial features. I ) The tennis player has the choice of / 1 18 grass courts. The. bowler is well ■ [ served with fine public greens;. the \ | croquet player likewise, and even the | ! horn of the hunter is now heard on i j the slopes of the Rotorua hills as the I 1 hunt follows the hounds pell mell af- / ter the elusive h'are. / j Swimming has de luxe attractions | beyond compare. Imagine a full- | I length swimming bath, white-tiled, p j sp'arkling hlue waters of a warmth l that attracts but never chills or overJ | heats, diving towers, sun balconies, I richly furnished and carpeted resting rooms. Picture this and you have not 5? a Hollywoodian conception, but a mental image of the famous Blue i' Bath at Rotorua. There are other baths, too, that cater for the enjoy>1 ment of young and-old, rich and poor, J alike.. | For the sufferer there are the bene- | ficent waters of nature, brimming r with minerals, which, with the aid of S medical science, smooth away pains j! and restore health and vigour. i 1 Thermal Activity. P Thermal activity begins on the 1 : shore of the lake and even in the j waters, which, cold and clear, mingle j .and pulse with countless small hot [; ■ springs rising through the bed of the ^ j'lake. On the shore these springs become small geysers or pools as the ^ mood takes them. The old Maori village of Ohinemutu is estahlished on

the edge of the lake amidst a welter ' | of thermal activity, but while this j S j amazes the visitor, it is but a com- j monplade to the Maori who utilises ihe : S ' visible manifestations of nature's ^ power to the mundane purpose of || steaming to a tempting tenderness ii his evening meal of fish, meat 01* ; vegetables. [A Two miles away, at Whakarewa- ^ rewa is thermal activity in more tur'1 bulent mood and there a small valley | contains an uriparalleled amount of ^ thermal activity. Geysers of great 1 force and intensity vie with huge mud' ? pools where the gurgitating hot mud 1 forms and re-forms into fantastic and 1 beautiful designs, hissing blow-holes I and petrified terraces of great if beauty of colouring. I For a modest fee visitors are eonI ducted through this area by native I women guides, or wahines, smartly | dressed in native costume. These | charming mentors relate many inte\i resting legends and anecdotes of the I ' geysers and pools. I By its association with thermal ac I tivity and curative waters, -Rotorua is 1 regarded by some misinformed per- • | sons as a place where life is precari- | ous, earthquakes commonplace. No.1 thing could be further from the aeUul | truth, for in the whole history of the I town not even a chimney -has been | thrown down. 1 Rotorua is the radiating point for I " outbreaks of thermal activity in an 1 area of many square miles. Most of S these interesting sights are taken in i arranged scenic trips, "of which the 1 following brief descriptions will give 1 some idea of the fascinating nature 1 pf the country. ■ Round Lake Rotorua. 1 This fine car trip of 35 miles skirts

the shores of Lake Rotorua for the jg greater part and takes in the famous $ Hamurana Spring, Okere Falls and ^ Caves and a portion of Lake Rotoiti. £j A stop is made at Hamurana and here i the visitor sees a wonderful spring | of crystal clear water welling up from | the earth at the rate of millions of | gallons per day. The spring is the | ■home of thousands of rainbow trout, % which can be ' clearly seen idling in , | the glorious waters. So great is the i pressure of water from the spring r | that a penny dropped in it will not j j sink. Okere Falls are also very beau- | tiful and the secret Maori Caves form ' a valuable historical link with the ] eaiiy Maori wars. The scenery from d the road, as it winds round the lake on the northern shore, is magnificent, | the road being quite 200 feet above ^ the lake level. In the immediate foreground is Mokoia Island, with Rotorua showing in the distance. Owing ^ to the height of the viewpoint, when | the water is clear, the bottom of tne : lake is clearly visible for half a mile round. |