ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 585, 17 July 1933, Page 8

ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

I WONDERFUL CHARM AND ! INFINITE VARIETY OF SCENES IDEAL HOLIDAY RESORT

I — Rotorua and its environs have been so generously endowed by prodigal k nature tbat the limitations of spaco prove a definite handicap to a comt plete description of its charms. Rotorua town is set on the shores i Lake Rotorua, famous in Maori j tradition, a loyely stretch of pure , water relieved by beautiful Mokoia Island, a background poem in green. The town is a prosperous borough of 5150 inhabitants. It has all the amenities of a modern town, including many comfortable hotels and aecommodation houses run on sound j lines and catering for the visitor's every comfort. It is served well by luxurious express trains and service j cai's. Sporting Attractions. ' Apart from the scenic and thermal aspects of the area, Rotorua is a veritable sportsmen's Mecca. The many lakes and streams in the district are teeming with the famcus fighting rain- | bow trout. This, the gamest of all I fresh-water fish, reaehes great size in J Rotorua waters, 10-pounders being j commonplace, and fish as heavy as J 261b have been talcen. Angling for ! theso fresh-iwater fighters in the sylj van setting of the Rotorua lakes and ! streams with their backgrounds of , sun-kissed hills and almost tropical bush, is a sheer pleasure and a real mental tonic. The golfer who visits Rotorua in- | variabJy comes back again, and why should he not, for in Rotorua he has | a course unique in lxazards and fasj cinatlng in lay-out Where else in ; ihe world can be found such undulai tions of velvet fairways, intercepted, ; perhaps, by here a hot pool, axxd there | a smoking geyser or a muttering mud • pool? This is Arikikapakapa the xnain J course, but on the shores of the lake . | there is another fine nine-hole coux-se | named Motutara, which also has its special featxxres. | The tennis player has the choice of l I 18 grass courts. The bov/lor is well | served with fine public greens; the j ; croquet player likewise, and even the | horn of the hunter is now heard on j the "slopes of the Rotorua hills as the j hunt follows the hounds pell mell af- , ! ter the elusive hare. I j Swimming has de luxe attractions ' beyond compare. Ixnagine a fulli length swimming bath, white-tiled, j sp'arkling blue waters of a warmth | that attracts but never chills or ovex--j heats, diving towers, suxx balconies, richly furnished and carpeted resting ; rooms. Pictxxre this and you have not a Hollywoodian conception, but a xnental ixxiage of the famous Blue Bath at Rotorua. There are other j baths, too, that cater for the enjoy- I ment of young and old, rich and poor, 1 alike. For the sufferer there are the beneficent waters of nature, brimming with minerals, which, with the aid of j nxedical science, smooth away pains | ! and restore health axxd vigour. Thermal Activity.

Therxnal activity begins on the ■ shore of the lake and even in the j waters, which, cold and elear, xningle j and pulse with coxxntless small hot ' springs rising through the bed of the I lake. On the shore these springs beI coxxxe small geysers or pools as the I mood takes them. The old Maori i village of Ohinemutu is established on * the edge of the lake amidst a welter of thermal activity, but while this amazes the visitor, it is but a co.nmonplace to the Maori who utilises the visible' xxxanifestations of nature's power to the mundane purpose of steaming to a tempting tenderness his evening meal of fish, meat or vegetables. Two miles away, at Whakarewarewa is thermal activity in more turbulent mood axxd there a small valley contains an unparalleled amount of thermal activity. Geysers of great force and intensity vie with huge mud pools where the gurgitating hot mud forms and re-forms into fantastic and beautiful designs, hissing blow-holes and petrified terraces of great beauty of colouring. For a modest fee visitors are conducted through this area by native women guides, or wahines, smartly dressed in native costume. These charming mentors relate many interesting legends and anecdotes of the geysers - and pools. Byits association with thermal ac tivity and curative waters, Rotorua is regarded by some misinformed persons as a place where life is precarious, earthquakes commonplace. Nothing could be further from the actu^l truth, for in the whole history of the town not even a chimney has been thrown down. • Rotorua is the radiating point for outbrealcs of thermal activity in an area of many square miles. Most of these interesting sights are taken in' arranged scenic trips, .of which the following brief descriptions will give some idea of the fascinating nature of the country. Round Lake Rotorua. This fine car trip of 35 miles skirts LatJjgj

the shores of Lake Rotorua for the greater part and takes in the famous Hamurana Spring, Okere Falls and Caves and a portion of Lake Rotoiti. A stop is made at Hamurana and here the visitor sees a wondex'ful spring of crystal clear water welling up from the earth at the rate of millions of gallohs per day_ The spiung is the home of thousands of rainbow trout, which can be clearly seen idling in the glorious waters. So- great is the pressure of water from the spring that a penny dropped in it -will not sink. Okere Falls are also very beau- ! tiful and the secret Maori Caves form a valuable historical link with the early Maori wars. The scenery from 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 Ro- ; torua showing in the distance. Owing j to the height of the viewpoint, when | the water is clear, the bottom of the 1 lake is clearly visible for ha'lf a rnile ; round. I |