Rotorua – an unpredictable city

You can smell Rotorua from a distance. Long before you see the city sign, the air is already thick with the distinctive scent of hydrogen sulphide – best compared to rotten eggs. This is the perfectly natural side effect of intense geothermal activity in the area. And yet, the stench doesn’t scare tourists away. Rotorua is one of the main tourist hubs on New Zealand’s North Island. It’s also jokingly called Roto-Vegas, thanks to its abundance of neon lights and bars. Other nicknames include Sulphur City and Rotten-rua and each of them reflects the specific atmosphere of this city.

Geothermal features are everywhere. Rotorua sits right in the heart of the Taupō Volcanic Zone – one of the most geologically active regions in New Zealand. Naturally hot water has been considered a gift from the gods by local communities since time immemorial. The hottest springs were used for cooking, the warmer ones for bathing, and houses were built on heated ground that worked like natural underfloor heating. Of course, geothermal activity has its downsides. Houses in Rotorua don’t have basements – digging could easily end with discovering yet another hot spring. The same goes for cemeteries: graves are built above ground.

For locals, geothermal activity is simply part of everyday life. A short walk to the city centre brings you to Kuirau Park, where you’ll find hot springs, steaming rocks and bubbling mud pools. Everything is free to access – including a foot-soaking pool.

On the other side of the town lie the Government Gardens. Thanks to the area’s therapeutic properties, a spa was established here in 1908. Skin conditions, rheumatism and arthritis were treated here. What’s surprising is that even at the end of the world, the place looks similar to European spa towns. You’ll find all the classic elements: distinctive spa architecture, thermal pools and a landscaped park.

A lakeside promenade runs along the shore of Lake Rotorua, where you can spot sulphur-rich water and numerous water birds carefully avoiding spots where sulphurous steam shoots up from the ground.

Rotorua is also a major centre of Māori culture. Māori people form the largest proportion of residents here compared to any other city in New Zealand. The best place to explore their traditions is Te Puia – a Māori cultural centre located in the former geothermal valley of Whakarewarewa. Visits are guided by a Māori guide and last about 90 minutes. Te Puia is also one of the few places where you can see the kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird. As kiwis are nocturnal, they’re kept in a specially designed dark enclosure where photography is strictly forbidden. You can also visit schools of carving, weaving and jewellery-making, and learn about hāngi – the traditional method of cooking food in underground ovens using hot stones. This technique hasn’t changed for hundreds of years and is still practised today. At Te Puia you can sample traditional Māori cuisine and watch a haka performance. The real star of the show, however, is the Pōhutu geyser – the most active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere. It erupts on average every half hour, shooting water and steam 20–30 metres into the air.

Pōhutu’s activity was once seriously threatened. Numerous private drillings carried out by residents searching for geothermal water caused a drop in the geyser’s output. Only a programme of sealing artificial boreholes restored Pōhutu to its former glory. Around the geyser, hot rocks allow you to literally feel the heat rising from deep parts of the Earth.

Hell’s Gate is another geothermal attraction in Rotorua. Definitely it’s not an ordinary geothermal park. It’s the most active geothermal area in New Zealand, and the name is no marketing gimmick. As the name suggests, it really is hellish. Everything steams, bubbles and looks like it’s about to explode. With every step, you can feel the raw energy coming from beneath the ground.

The walking route is marked out by wooden boardwalks that look suspiciously like emergency rafts. Everything around you looks like faded, grey and barren. Even the names spark the imagination: Devil’s Cauldron, Sodom and Gomorrah, Inferno Pool. In many places, the temperature of the bubbling sludge reaches 100°C or more. Add steaming ground, gurgling mud lakes and hissing fumaroles, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a truly infernal landscape.

Within the park there’s also a mud volcano that works exactly like a classic volcano – except instead of lava, it spits out hot mud and puts on an unscheduled show every few weeks. It’s the largest mud volcano in New Zealand’s reserves. While most mud volcanoes are about one metre tall, the one at Hell’s Gate reaches three metres and keeps growing, adding new layers of mud with each eruption.

Thankfully, in the middle of this geothermal hell there’s a surprise: a green enclave filled with unique plants thriving thanks to the heat and mineral-rich soil. Hidden among the vegetation are Kakahi Falls – the largest hot waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere, with water at around 40°C. In the past, Māori warriors bathed here after battles, washing off blood and treating wounds. The sulphur in the water acted as a natural antiseptic.

Hell’s Gate is also home to Medicine Lake, the source of Rotorua’s famous therapeutic mud. For centuries it was used to treat pain and skin conditions. Today, the mud is used in a spa that you can access for an additional fee. Mud pool sessions are limited to twenty minutes, as longer exposure to the heat could lead to overheating. Hell’s Gate offers three types of healing  mud: black for rheumatism and arthritis, white for burns, and grey for gentle skin exfoliation.

This place can be harsh and occasionally unsettling. The raw, washed-out colours don’t exactly encourage to take Instagram sweet selfies – and that’s precisely why Hell’s Gate is so compelling. It lets you experience, up close, the immense power hidden beneath the Earth’s surface.

Rotorua – predicting the unpredictable

Rotorua is an unpredictable city. Many attractions lie in seismically active areas, so common sense isn’t optional – it’s mandatory. All warnings and safety notices must be taken seriously. On top of that, Rotorua is a major tourist centre, which unfortunately comes with a darker side. Petty crime rates are higher than the national average, with car break-ins being the most common issue. Thieves particularly favour car parks near hostels, tourist attractions and trailheads. The rule is simple: don’t leave valuables in your car – not even “just for a minute”.

Rotorua is a city of contrasts – beautiful and fascinating, yet also unsettling. The air smells of sulphur, the ground steams beneath your feet, and geysers and mud volcanoes constantly remind you of the immense force of the Earth. At the same time, Rotorua is the heart of Māori culture and a spa town where nature and tradition intertwine in a truly unique way. To experience it all properly, it’s worth booking tickets to Te Puia and Hell’s Gate well in advance.