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ROTORUA, in the centre of the North Island is renowned for its natural geysers and health-giving spas. But it's certainly got more than just hot air and water, with something for all the family.
You can go trout fishing, mountain biking in the surrounding forest, bungee jumping or jet skiing, to name a few activities. But it's the geysers, mud pools and spas which are perhaps, the main attractions.
The Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley is a popular bubbling valley which encompasses the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. The Institute includes a traditional meeting house, kiwis (viewed in a nocturnal shed) and demonstrations of carving and weaving.
Taking pride of place in this city of 250,000 is the Rotorua Museum - housed in a Tudor mansion, built in 1908 as magnificent as a town hall, which is surrounded by the Government Gardens, planned in the 1890s with a croquet lawn and bowling club.
Of most interest in the museum are the north-eastern galleries where the history of "taking the cure" has been preserved in the original tiled bath rooms where travellers flock to ease their tensions in mineral waters pumped from nearby hot springs. There's also a 15 minute "active" cinema experience in a small theatrette - the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 is shown on screen while the wooden benches shake and vibrate.
Just across from the Museum, also bordering the manicured park, are the Blue Baths where you can swim in mineral-rich waters, climb the terrazzo staircase and have a cuppa in the high-ceilinged tea rooms or just stroll through the exhibits in two parallel wings, including former dressing cubicles.
The restored baths, reopened in 1999, and the Spanish Mission architecture of the 1933 original has been restored with the original main pool now a grassed courtyard leading to heated swimming baths.
The Blue Baths were among the first public pools in the world "to offer mixed bathing for recreation" and the exhibits contain various photos from the 1930s onwards, plus a fashion archive of changing women's swimwear.
Every one of Rotorua's hotels boasts a spa pool and the claim doesn't mean a
jacuzzi jet in the bathroom tub.
If you want to try your luck at trout fishing, Rotorua is surrounded by 11 forest-fringed lakes and dozens of clear streams. As trout is the only species in these waters, the browns and rainbows grow to trophy size, with good catches always recorded in Lake Tarawera and Lake Rotorua.
If you're beyond bungee jumping and fed up with jet skiing, Rotorua is the home of zorbing. This may sound like it has something to do with fast spinning Greeks but actually involves rolling down a hill like a human hamster inside and air cushioned bouncing ball. Try it at The Argodome, 7km north of Rotorua.
Just 15 minutes from Rotorua towards Lake Tarawera via the Green and Blue Lakes is The Buried Village, with a museum and excavation site commemorating the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. Prior to the volcanic devastation, the area had been renowned for its Pink and White Terraces, declared it their heyday as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
So there's plenty to do in this attractive city, which lays on a special welcome for visitors.