ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 599, 2 August 1933, Page 8

ROTORUA ATTRACTIONS

I WONDERFUL CHARM AND 8 INFINITE VARIETY .1 OF SCENES | IDEAL HOLIDAY RESORT '

| Rotorua and its environs have been | so generously endowed by prodigal | nature that the limitations of space I prove a definite handicap to a eomplete description of its charms. Rotorua town is set on the shores of Lake Rotorua, famous in Maori tradition, a lovely stretch .of pure water relieved by beautiful Mokoia [Island, a background poem in green. I The town is a prosperous borough of 5150 inhabitants. It has all -the amenities of a modern town, includmg many comfortable hotels and accommodation houses run on sound lines and catering for the visitor's every comfort. It is served well by luxurious express trains and service cars. ) 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 c fresh-water fish, reaches great size in ! Rotorua waters, 10-pounders being ^ commonplace, and fish as heavy as £ 261b have been taken. Angling for , j these fresh-water fighters in the sylI van setting of. the Rotorua lakes and | i streams with their backgrounds of | sun-kissed hills and almost tropical , j bush, is a sheer pleasure and a real | p mental tonic. | The golfer who visits Rotorua invanably comes back again, and why ^ should he not, for in Rotorua he has | a course unique in hazards and fas- ^ i cinatmg in lay-out Where else in j the world can be found such undulations of velvet fairways, intercepted, | perhaps, by here a hot pool, and there a smoking geyser or a muttering mud j pool ? This is Arikikapakapa the main j • course, but on the shores of the lake there is another fine nine-hole course l named Motutara,, which also has its § special features. x The tennis player has the choice of 18 grass courts. The bowler is well ■i served with fine public greens; the croquet player likewise, and even the | horn of the hunter is now heard on | the slopes of the Rotorua hills as the hunt follows the hounds pell mell af- § ter the elusive hare. | Swimming has- de luxe attractions beyond compare. Imagine a full- ! length swimming bath, white-tiled, spiarkling blue waters of a warmth ! that attracts but never chills or overIi heats, diving towers, sun balconies, j richly furnished and carpeted resting rooms. Picture this and you have not a Hollywoodian conception, but a mental image of the famous Blue Bath at Rotorua. There are other baths, too, that cater for the enjoyment of young and old, rich and poor, alike. 3 For the sufferer there are the bene- ! ficent waters of nature, brimming J \ with' minerals, which, with the aid of Imedical science, smooth away pains and restore health and vigour. Thermal Activity. Thermal activity begins on the shore of the lake and even in the } waters, which, cold and clear, mingle | and pulse with countless small hot "springs rising through the bed of the lake. On the shore these springs be- ' come small geysers or pools as the mood takes them. The old Maori village of Ohinemutu is established on the edge of the lake amidst a welter ? of thermal activity, but while t.nis j S amazes the visitor, it is but a co.n- | monplace to the Maori who utilises the | visible manifestations of nature's i power to the mundane purpose of s steaming to a tempting tenderness I his evening meal of fish, meat or | vegetables. I Two miles away, at Whakarewa- ? rewa is thermal activity in more turi bulent mood and there a small valley | contains an unparalleled amount of jj thermal activity. Geysers of great ■j force and intensity vie with huge mud | pools where the gurgitating hot mud | forms and re~forms into 'fantastic and I beautiful designs, hissing blow-holes l and petrified terraces of great I beauty of colouring. | For a modest fee visitors are conj ducted through this area by native • women guides, or wahines, smartly j dressed in native costume. These i charming mentors relate many inte- | resting legends and anecdotes of the . geysers and pools. j By its association with thermal ac ! tivity and curative waters, Rotorua is ' regarded by some misinformed pers sons as a place where life is precariIous, earthquakes commonplace. Nothing could be further from the actuAl truth, for in the whole history of the town not even a chimney has been thrown down. Rotorua is the radiating point for outbreaks 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, i This fine car trip of 35 miles skirts

the shores of Lake Rotorua for the great er 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 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 pressure of water ffom the spring that a penny dropped in it will not sink. Okere Falls are also very beautiful and the secret Maori Caves form a valuable historieal 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 Rotorua showing in the distance. Owing to the height of the viewpoint, when the water is clear, the bottom of the lake is clearly visible for half a mile round.