From Mt Maunganui, we headed to Rotorua for 3 days. I would have spent at least a week here if I had known how many fun things to do and great food there is! This was my favorite place in New Zealand so far. There are a lot more activities, so it’s a bit more expensive, but I think it was all worth it.

Activities:

Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village: There are multiple Maori villages set up near the town of Rotorua. Maoris reside in these areas and have created tours to introduce people to their culture. The tour includes a walk through the village, a lunch cooked in traditional Maori style, and a show. At first, I felt weird about attending this. I didn’t want to be some privileged white person watching Maori people live their lives as if I was watching animals at the zoo. But the tour guide allayed those concerns a bit by stating that the tour was created by Maori people to share their way of life.

The Maori have endured intolerance, discrimination, and oppression since European settlement in the 19th century. There seems to have been a concerted effort since the 1990s for New Zealand residents to repair the history of damages. This was especially noticeable in the discussions we held with people in New Zealand. A lot of people encouraged us to correct our pronunciation of Maori words. We also met a lot of kids while staying at our AirBNBs who are learning Maori language at school, which apparently wasn’t part of the curriculum over 20 years ago.

This stuck with me so strongly because in the US, there is no equivalent. I grew up in Tampa, Florida. Tampa is a Native American word meaning “sticks of fire” in reference to the lightning that Tampa gets so regularly. Also, I pronounce this word “tamp-uh” but I seriously doubt that is the correct pronunciation. And I certainly would never meet someone who would correct me or educate me on the Native American history in Tampa. It makes me simultaneously impressed by the actual efforts being put forth to recognize Maori culture as important, and frustrated that the US still has so far to go.

Hobbiton - There is a one-hour bus that travels to the movie set from Rotorua. I am so excited just writing about this that it’s hard to even find the words. I love all things Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, so this was a HUGE tick on the bucket list. It also rained during the entire two-hour tour, but I still loved it!

Hobbiton is a trail made up of 39 hobbit “holes” (meaning, tiny houses). The best moment was when our guide passed Samwise Gamgee’s hole and stated “some people would call him the true hero of our story” and we yelled an obnoxious “YAAASS”. (It was very obvious at this point who the Americans in the group were). As an aside, I have really strong feelings about this. Frodo was useful for maybe the first hour of the entire trilogy. From there, IT’S ALL SAM. Sam carries the heavy backpack. Sam figures out very early on that Gollum is after the ring. Sam comes back for Frodo, even though Frodo was a total douche to him. Sam also ends up carrying Frodo all the way up the stupid volcano and throws his ass inside the mountain, and Frodo can’t just LIFT HIS HAND AND THROW THE RING IN? ... Anyways...

The guide continued to tell us fun facts about the movies and leads you through the adorable hills to The Green Dragon. Here, you can end your tour with a free pint! I had my first apple cider here after a year of sobriety. Hobbiton was originally deconstructed after The Lord of the Rings trilogy ended, but was reconstructed to become a permanent tourist site during The Hobbit trilogy. We learned a lot of interesting facts, and my favorite was this: During the film, Frodo has a nightmare about what would happen to The Shire if he doesn’t destroy the ring. In the nightmare, The Green Dragon burns down. The director wanted this to be an authentic fire, so what did he do? HE BURNED IT TO THE GROUND. Can you imagine if he didn’t get the shot? I thought this was amazing.

Thursday Night Market - This next part in quotes is what I wrote upon coming to this street: “Oh my god! There is SO MUCH FOOD here here! I could cry 😭 I want to eat it all!” The Thursday Night Market on Tutanekai Street from 5 to 9 PM is a magical wonderland of food trucks and local stores selling goods. I ended up eating a pumpkin and ricotta ravioli dish from Buon Appetito and Terrance got loaded fries from Vegan Eats. Both were so yummy! And if I could have eaten more, I totally would have! I also got my first ring of the trip. I love rings, and I decided to buy one for each country I visit. This one has a moonstone in it! (Pictured below).

Food:

Hangi Pie - Hangi is a style of cooking done in Maori culture. A pit is dug under the ground, and because Rotorua is so hot, it acts as an oven when covered. This tasted like Thanksgiving dinner inside a pastry puff. Was not mad about this at all.

Dangerous Chocolate - One of our AirBNB hosts work at this shop, and I have to say, it’s the best place for chocolate! They had tons of truffles, and the flavors were so interesting. My favorites were feijoa and passion fruit pavlova. Feijoa is a new flavor to me, and it’s apparently a common fruit in New Zealand! A couple of our hosts even had a feijoa tree growing in their backyards!

Oppies - “Cheap and cheerful” as they say in New Zealand! This place oddly enough sells both fish and chips, alongside Chinese food. Both are delicious! It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but this place seems to be a staple in Rotorua.

The Art Cafe - Winner for best coffee and right in the city center!

Travel Tips and Fun Facts:

The sun is very strong in Rotorua (and most of New Zealand) The hole in the ozone layer causes sunburns to happen very easily. My back and shoulders turned red in a matter of hours. I also got lightheaded a couple of times. Be careful with the sun here and drink lots of water! As a side note: I really appreciate that everyone we met across New Zealand discussed the heat as being so bad due to climate change. It wasn’t a controversy, it wasn’t a question - it was a widely-known and accepted fact that this is happening, which I appreciated so much.

New Zealanders call themselves Kiwis and it’s not an offensive or insulting term.

New Zealanders use “takeaway” as the term for takeout food

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