ROTORUA

'Rotorua'
Urban Area	Population	55,100
	Extent	Ngongotaha to Owhata
Territorial Authority	Name	Rotorua District
	Population	67,600
	Extent	On the North Island Rotoma; Tokorau to Golden Springs
Regional Councils	Name	Bay of Plenty and Waikato

'Rotorua' is a town on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand, and 'Rotorua District' is the encompassing local authority area. The city has a population of 64,509. It is 60 km south of Tauranga, 105 km south-east of Hamilton and 82 km north-east of Taupo.
Rotorua is well-known for geothermal activity. There are a number of geysers, notably the Pohutu geyser at Whakarewarewa, and hot mud pools located in the city, which owe their presence to the Rotorua caldera.
Rotorua is connected to the north by State Highway 5, to the east by State Highway 33, to the west by State Highway 30, and to the south by State Highway 5. Increasingly though travellers to Tauranga are selecting the newly commissioned State Highway 36 via Ngongotaha and Pyes Pa.
Rotorua Regional Airport provides daily flights to Auckland International Airport and Wellington International Airport via turbo-prop services and Christchurch International Airport using turbo-props and a daily jet service. Plans are afoot to increase the runway length to allow trans-Tasman flights.
Rotorua is also connected to the rail network with a branch line from Putaruru to the north, currently disused.

Contents

History

Modern days

Geothermal areas

Lakes

Other activities

Famous people

Sister cities

References

External links

History

The name ''Rotorua'' comes from Māori, the full name being ''Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe''; ''roto'' generally means lake and ''rua'' two - ''Rotorua'' thus meaning 'Second lake'. Kahumatamomoe was the uncle of the Māori chief Ihenga. It was the second major lake the chief discovered, and he dedicated it to his uncle. It is the largest of a multitude found to the north-east of the city, all connected with the Rotorua Caldera and nearby Mt Tarawera.
The area was initially settled by Māori of the Te Arawa iwi. The lakeshore was a prominent site of skirmishes during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. A "special town district" was created in the 1880s, in order to promote Rotorua's potential as a spa. The town was connected to Auckland with the opening of the Rotorua Branch railway and commencement of the Rotorua Express train in 1894, resulting in the rapid growth of the town and tourism from this time forward. Rotorua was established as a borough in 1922.

Modern days

Geothermal areas

Thermal activity is at the heart of much of Rotorua's tourist appeal. Geysers and bubbling mud-pools, hot thermal springs and the Buried Village (Te Wairoa) - so named after it was buried by the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption - are within easy reach of the city.
Kuirau Park, to the west end of the central city, is also remarkable - hot bubbling mud pools dot the park, lending a surreal air to the setting. Visitors can soak their feet in hot pools.

Rotorua is nicknamed Sulphur City, because of the aforementioned thermal activity. The sulphur gives off an odour unique to Rotorua that adds to the visitor experience.
The especially pungent smell in the central-east 'Te Ngae' area is due to the dense sulphur deposits located next to the southern boundary of the Government Gardens, in the area known as 'Sulphur Point'.

Lakes

With 17 lakes, the Rotorua region is an aquatic paradise. Fishing, waterskiing, swimming and other water activities are popular in summer. The lakes are also great event venues; Rotorua hosted the 2007 World Waterski Championships. Lake Rotorua is also used as a departure and landing point for float planes.

Other activities

Rotorua is also home to botanical gardens and interesting historic architecture. Known as a spa town and major tourist resort since the 1800s, many of its buildings hint at this history. Government Gardens, close to the lakeshore at the eastern end of the town, are particularly worthy of note.

Another of Rotorua's attractions is the mountain biking. Whakarewarewa (also known as the "Redwoods") Forest has been described as 'the Disneyland of mountain biking' and has some of the best mountain bike trails in New Zealand. Rotorua hosted the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships, in August 2006.

Famous people

★ Jean Batten

★ Susan Devoy

★ Alan Duff

★ Bevan Hari

★ Tame Iti

★ David Kosoof

★ Temuera Morrison

★ Christopher Perkins

★ Wayne "Buck" Shelford

★ Peter Tapsell

★ Cliff Curtis

★ Michael Barker (drummer)

Sister cities

Rotorua has four sister cities:

★ Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA^[1]

★ Beppu, Kyūshū, Japan

★ Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

★ Wuzhong, Suzhou, China

References

1. Sister Cities International

External links

★ Tourist information, etc

★ Glorious Mud: A Tourist's Introduction to Rotorua

★ Video of a Bubbling Mud Pool in Rotorua

★ Rotorua Street Maps

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