[Closed] Rotorua NZ

Get used to the smell.

Yeah! It's an interesting place, tends to smell quite erm interesting due to it being the world's most geothermically active town. Actually it stinks but you get used to it. The riding is pretty awesome, I hired a bike downtown and it only took half an hour or so to get to the huge network of trails.

I statyed in a very good hostel I'd highly recommend called the Funky Green Traveller. Sounds very hippyish but it wasn't really. Just a cool bunch if you need a hostel that is.

Sure you'll have good times out there, remember to have a chilled out soak in one of the natural springs, they are great after a days hard riding.

Riding is awesome. Speak to the guys at the trail head and like the Rotorura shuttles Facebook page for updates. Get the cloth map and take some suggestions from the guys for a tour. Must do off the shuttle is split endz loop. Get a trail bike as dh is overkill. Ride up the other side and do gunna gotta, k2 (hard) and the ones that head back down from that side. I rode 80% of the (marked) trails in a weekend but still made it back the following weekend for more.

Polynesiann spa on the lake front is superb for a post ride soak

Great place to camp, only time I've had underfloor heating,outdoors.

And the place smells of rotten eggs.

Brilliant place, everyone should go there at least once.

No idea what the riding's like, sorry.

I've got relatives in NZ, got room in your bags for a wee person.

I rode with the Mrs for 2 days and did all the trails closer to the trailhead. No uplift for us though (it [i]was [/i]midweek).

We deffo need to go back and do the bigger backcountry trails and some of the black stuff now she's improved.

The guys at the trailhead did her a really good deal on bike hire (either a GT Force or a SC Blur, I think) - all the shops in town had basic hardtails and she wanted to try a FS (in size S or XS!).

thanks for input guys! what bike hire place is at the trailhead? ive only found a couple in town. we definately want some decent full suspension bikes not a basic hardtail.

think I found them, http://www.mtbrotorua.co.nz/bikehire/
i'll drop them an email to see what they have.

Those hot baths are ****ing disgusting, it's just like having a bath after hundreds of other people have been in. Because thats what it is.

+1 for the Funky Green Traveller. Stayed in 2006 and was well positioned.

The Polynesian Spa was a great way to relax, especially when combined with a massage.

Just outside Rotorua there was a place to zorb and have a ride in a 2 man jet boat if you have a free afternoon.

Enjoy NZ, can't wait to go back when our little one is old enough to appreciate it.

Paul - that's the place. 8)

If you want a hot spring, then camp at Waikite Valley - you get access to the pools in the evening and the next morning before it's open to the public

That trail head bike center is new!
I rented from the trail head when it was just a big van / coffee van and bikes on a trailer, was a terrible bike!

trails are awesome - enjoy!!!

Ask locals about Kerosene Creek (or look it up online - it's not a secret any more). + there are a couple of other spots close to Wai-o-tapu (including a 3m high hot waterfall) for a natural hot dip.

Didn't bike out there, so can't help you with that aspect!

last tip Brew which is the Croucher Pub 🙂 Say hello to Johnny Deep (DJ) on a Friday night - no requests

Did the SSWC race there a couple of years ago, amazing selection of trails just out of town, keep you busy if you like super fast flowing Redwoods and Rain forest trails 😀

Pig and Whistle is great for some after ride beers and some other bar I can't remember the name of, just don't start drinking the "tea pots"

Oh yes, it smells but you get used to it...

I miss the smell!

Thanks guys!

Got bikes sorted now, decent 2014 Giant Trances, and we're biking for two days. Reckon we'll have another one and a half of other stuff so the non-bikey suggestions were very helpful.

After that, we're heading to Wellington for a few days and then onto to the south island for about 10 days. Really looking forward to it now!

Cheers

I did lots of cheeky riding around the Rotorua it was great,Some great riding around Wellington to 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/sets/689777/
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/34894399/ ]Which way now Wellington[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
Quennstown
Tried to do a bungy jump with the bike but they were to busy
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/62241235/ ]Queenstown 1st jump[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
The only way to travel!
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/34901980/ ]and again[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

The only way to travel!

All the above - if you go for the Polynesian Spa then be warned that some people (eg my Mrs) have a reaction to the stuff in the water and come out in a massive red rash after sitting in the baths for a bit. She got a load of freebie manuka honey skin cream stuff out of them tho...

And ALWAYS be careful about security in that part on NZ, lock the car, lock the bike away somewhere, no valuables on view etc. It's close to some very rough towns and a tourist trap.

Somebody stole my dad's shoes when he was in the Polynesian baths !

Do the marae visit if you can, the one on the Rotorua-Taupo road is proper and run by the local tribe.

Did the Rotarua trails a few years ago and they were some of the best I have ever ridden. Rode them on a total shed of a hire bike with bald tyres. That was the kicker though - the lad who did the hiring said stick with the baldy tyres as they have more grip - and boy was he ever right. The trail is like sandpaper and rides really well. Yep a full sus would have been even better, but I was having so much crack I never noticed.
I would reiterate the point about locking the van/car/whatever though. NZ has become notorious for thieving from tourist wagons, and no its not me moaning, their own press was full of it. My wife is Kiwi and she was mightily embarrassed by it, but hey, thieving gits are everywhere, not just NZ.
There didn't seem to be a lot of trails set up the same way as we have them in Scotland though, but the benefit is that they have a much better waymarked trail system than in Scotland. Check the local DOC (Dept of Conservation) website for the areas you are going to, and ask for advice on where you can and cant go. A lot of areas are off limits due to it being private land, so asking will save you p****g folk off.

If you go in any of the mud baths, do not afterwards wash your swimmers with the rest of your clothes. I did and all my clothes stank of rotten eggs even after 5+ washes. In the end I had to throw away all my clothes and buy a whole new set. Im not talking a little smell but they proper reeked.

Good tip woody! 8)