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Rotorua is among the high locations on the North Island of New Zealand for good cause! We spent two days exploring family-friendly locations on the town together with the gorgeous Polynesian Spa and the Redwoods Treewalk.
We’re visiting New Zealand by campervan because it’s one of the simplest ways to see the nation. We rented a motorhome from Wilderness Motorhomes. We rented from Wilderness again in 2018 throughout our first go to to this attractive nation and arms down, they’re the very best rental firm within the nation. (Additionally on the planet…Europe take notice!)
Geothermal Exercise
Rotorua is a *literal* hotbed of geothermal actions. There are pure sizzling swimming pools, creeks, boiling mud, and each sort of geothermal pool you’ll be able to think about. The city itself is constructed in the midst of all of it, giving a sniff of sulfur in all places you go.
The factor to do is soak within the therapeutic waters of the realm. Throughout our first go to to Rotorua in 2018, we went the pure route, strolling down sizzling streams and soaking in questionable heat waters. This time we needed to seek out one thing family-friendly. There are numerous distant, romantic sizzling swimming pools the place you’ll be able to soak, however kid-friendly ones are a lot tougher to seek out.
We selected the Polynesia Spa for its kid-friendly swimming pools. We made a reservation for a personal lake-view pool and received passes for the household swimming pools as properly.
There’s motorhome parking—free and in a single day—proper throughout the road from the Polynesia Spa, so we arrived early within the afternoon and stayed in a single day. This was the right setup to have the ability to bathe, change garments, and head residence for the night time.
The personal pool was good and sizzling and the children have been allowed in with us. The water was a little bit too sizzling for them, however fortunately there was a small ledge of easy stones the place they might sit and splash. The personal pool reserving had a timer, so after an hour, we headed over to the household swimming pools. There have been three swimming pools—two shallow swimming pools and one giant pool with a slide. The slide made it so enjoyable and the pool was divided right into a deep and shallow part so Ellie might stroll across the shallow space.
Redwoods Treewalk
This was one in all our most memorable nights throughout our first go to to New Zealand and one place we needed to return to within the gentle of day.
The Redwoods Treewalk is the longest treewalk on the planet. It’s a collection of over 20 bridges and platforms suspending you excessive within the treetops. It’s a wonderful method to expertise the forest and a novel expertise for the household. All ages are welcome to benefit from the bridges, however you aren’t allowed to hold kids. The workers will present a particular stroller. They’ve a number of choices relying on the age of your kids. It wasn’t too tough to maneuver on the tiny bridges and it saved our 18 month previous protected.
After we explored the treetops, we went to floor and hiked a few of the stroller-friendly trails by means of the forest. It was good climate, lovely surroundings, and an effective way to spend our morning.
The place to Keep
Being such a well-liked vacation spot, there are lots of vacation parks close to Rotorua. To remain on the town, we parked on the Hinemoa Avenue Carpark. There have been many spots within the lot for campers, nevertheless it stuffed up quick. We arrived round 3 PM and the car parking zone was getting near full.
There are road lights and trash within the lot and it’s proper subsequent to a park. We simply walked by means of the park into the downtown space. There have been so many eating places on the town to select from. We discovered a comfy Mexican restaurant with outside seating and scrumptious tacos that I’m nonetheless pondering about…
If you may get a spot, we extremely suggest parking on the free lot on the town so to simply entry every little thing the city has to supply.