#tepuia

[hayaam1230]

The top 6 cities to visit in New Zealand

Discovering New Zealand, country with remarkable scenery and lively customs, provides visitors with variety of varied experiences. Every city has its own unique beauty and attractions, which include lively urban centres to peaceful natural wonders. The best six cities in New Zealand are covered in this book, where you can experience the culture of the Maori people, take in beautiful coastal views, and partake in excellent eating and adventure activities. Cities offer the ideal beginning places for an amazing Kiwi tour, whether you're looking for adventure, culture, or relaxation.

Securing the required travel paperwork is just one of the numerous tasks that need to be carefully planned while travelling to New Zealand's amazing scenery and energetic towns. Regardless of whether you are applying New Zealand visa from Dubai or New Zealand visa from Abu Dhabi, getting a New Zealand visa is a simple process for UAE citizens. New Zealand Visa Application Centres are situated in these cities, or you can apply online. Essential documentation, including a current passport, evidence of financial stability, and trip plan data, must be submitted by applicants. When a visa is approved, it provides easy access to all of New Zealand's best holiday locations, including the lively capital of Auckland and the action-packed Queenstown, guaranteeing a simple and unforgettable trip.

Here are the top 6 cities to visit in New Zealand:

Auckland: Auckland, sometimes called the "City of Sails," is the biggest and most diverse city in New Zealand. It is famous for beautiful harbours, such as Manukau and Waitemata, as well as for being close to some of most gorgeous beaches and hiking routes. With extensive number of theatres, museums, and galleries, including Auckland Art Gallery and the New Zealand Maritime Museum, city is home to a growing arts and culture scene.

Wellington: Wellington, nation's capital, is well-known for its lively nightlife, rich history, and arts scene. Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum, provides an in-depth exploration of the country's cultural and natural assets. Museum is located in the city, nestled between rolling hills and a lovely harbour. Wellington, which is home to the Parliament buildings, including the recognisable Beehive, is also the political centre of the country.

Queenstown: Queenstown, dubbed the adventure capital of New Zealand, is a haven for thrill-seekers. With the incredible Southern Alps and Lake Wakatipu as a dramatic background, Queenstown is home to many heart-pounding winter sports and extreme sports including skydiving, bungee jumping, jet boating, and skiing. Queenstown is known for adventure, but it also provides luxury and relaxation, with world-class wines in the neighbouring Gibbston Valley, luxury resorts, and exquisite dining establishments.

Christchurch: Referred to as the "Garden City," Christchurch is famous for its exquisite gardens and parks as well as its creative reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The city successfully combines a strong sense of modernity with its rich English tradition. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park, and the gorgeous Avon River—where punting is a popular pastime—are also enjoyed by visitors.

Rotorua: The North Island's Rotorua is well-known for its geothermal activities and vibrant Maori culture. The city, especially in locations like TePuia and Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, provides unique geothermal attractions like bubbling mud pools, geysers, and hot springs. City's proximity to Lake Rotorua offers additional chances for fishing, boat tours, and water sports.

Dunedin: Famous for its strong Scottish lineage, Dunedin is a beautiful city with a variety of historical and architectural passageways. University of Otago, oldest university in New Zealand, is located there, giving the city a more active and youthful feel. The beautiful Dunedin Railway Station, the storied Larnach Castle, and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery are all open to visitors.

Conclusion:

Discovering top six cities in New Zealand reveals combination of beautiful scenery, interesting past, and lively culture. Every city offers different aspect of makes New Zealand such an attractive travel destination, thanks to unique mix of experiences and attractions. Every destination offers life-changing experiences, geothermal wonders of Rotorua to urban flare of Auckland and Wellington, calm beauty of Queenstown, historic attract of Christchurch, and seaside attraction of Dunedin. Discover New Zealand is hailed as traveller's paradise around globe as you explore these varied urban treasures.

[ginasneesby]

September- Viv and Andy part 3

The next 3 days were set aside for a road trip, one I had done before and would do another 2 times this year, and yet could easily do it many more times. We headed out south of Auckland to Waitomo to go to the glow worm caves, however we decided to be a bit more adventurous than just sitting in a boat opting instead to fling ourselves off underground waterfalls. From Waitomo we drove over to Rotorua which is well known for geothermal sites, but also the best place to go to tap into Maori culture and fill your bellies at a hangi. Matamata is a short drive from Rotorua and is the film site for Hobbiton from the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies. Since the Hobbit, it was rebuilt in sustainable material including the bridge, mill and pub meaning the tours involved a bit less imagination and more wishing you were a hobbit.

We had booked our black water rafting cave experience for the afternoon to give us time to drive down, the traffic leaving Auckland is notoriously crappy but it being a Thursday I was hopeful we wouldn’t get stuck. Waitomo is about 3 hours drive from Auckland so we drove straight to the company head quarters to get booked in, there are a number of different tours with increasing varieties of climbing, abseiling and tight squeezes. I am not really a fan of small spaces so was only comfortable with the ‘black labyrinth’ option which involved water and waterfalls and floating along on a rubber tube. We had an air bnb only down the road, but as we arrived in good time we had to leave all our stuff in the car and used the half hour or so we had to have a light lunch; not knowing what to expect we didn’t wanna eat too much in case we brought it back up all over the Ruakuri cave interior. The first job after booking in was to size ourselves up for our wetsuits, this consisted of standing outside the wetsuit cabin while the guys who were gonna take us round looked at us and chose by eye, I’m gonna say there’s less insulting ways to pick the size of suit but there you go. The suits weren’t really washed in between uses but they were sprayed down or dunked in water, so it was great to be reminded not to pee in the suits so you won’t be sitting in a wee soup for your tour. This doesn’t, however, mean you won’t be sitting in the previous persons wee soup which is a lovely thought. We were given socks and a jacket over the wetsuit to keep us warm, reminding us that it’s our body warmth that provides the heat so everything not covered will be chilly, including the fingers we’ll be using to grip the walls; good to know.

So wetsuits on, and ready to start our adventure we took a group photo of everyone on our tour, this consisted of me Viv and Andy and two other women so a nice, small group of which we were the majority. We drove down to where the entrance to the cave was which I recognised from my previous visit, parked up in the car park and headed to a pile of rubber rings so we could choose our own; these will be used to float along in some sections of the cave where the water was deep enough. Before entering the cave we stopped by a small patch of river which had a little wooden jetty sticking over it and were told the best way to not be shocked by the cold water was to acclimatise ourselves here, this meant getting in so that we could start warming up the water in our suits. What we didn’t realise, was that when they said get in the water here they meant jumping backwards onto your rubber rings, oh and by the way we’re going to take photos of you as you jump. We took our turns sticking our bums in our rubber rings and jumping backwards into the water, as expected it was pretty cold; the photos are very funny.

The entrance to the cave was back past the car park and through some bush, we had to climb over some rocks and down into a little divot which had a pretty small hole into the ground. At this point I was quite nervous as I do get a bit claustrophobic and I thought despite them saying that it’s not too tight most of the time actually this was beyond what I can handle. However as soon as you get into the entrance it opens out and after a few low ceilings at the beginning the rest of the tour is narrow but tall, high ceilings with all the glowworms above you making it a lot more manageable. We carried the rubber rings ourselves which were quite useful as a buffer so we didn’t knock into the walls but it did put us a little bit off balance trying to walk around in the dark with the water rushing over the rocks at our feet, we had head torches so we could see where we were going but it was still a little bit tricky. The water was cold and your hands remained cold the whole time (really useful for grabbing hold of things) but once your body warmed up what was in your wet suit it was actually quite pleasant. The tour lasted about two hours, we walked some parts and were able to float some parts and then we had three waterfalls to jump off, they were only about five or 6 foot high but you had to put your bum in your ring (woof) like last time and jump backwards. The tour guides had torches and advised you on an angle but basically you just had to jump and hope that you didn’t smack into the wall. I loved it, jumping off stuff is totally my bag but Viv was not so keen and upon reflection decided not to jump but did then get to climb down the waterfall which I’m sure had its own challenges and splosh in at the bottom.

At one point we stopped in a fairly narrow area and the tour guides gave us some chocolate fish which are pink marshmallow covered in chocolate, New Zealand staple sweets; a nice little sugar hit to continue the tour. Later we came to the area where the normal cave tour comes through and we could see high above people gathered on the walkway with their guides torches on the glow worms. Towards the end of the tour, after our last waterfall jump we were told to stay in our rings and link ourselves together by putting our boots under the armpits of the person in front of us. The guides then pulled us along and through an area which was absolutely covered with glow worms. We had to be really quiet like on the normal tour so that we don’t disturb them, they have issues with sound and vibration I imagine, so we floated underneath in complete silence looking up at the high ceiling that was covered in the lights; amazing. We were nearing the exit of the Cave and could see the light from outside, so the guides told us from there we were on our own, just keep going towards the daylight. We all made our way towards the light and eventually found our way out, some people swimming, some people walking and some people floating. We took one last group photo by the exit and then walked back to the bus to be taken back to HQ, once there we had to strip off all of our wet water gear and were provided a hot shower to warm up although these were still semi outdoors so not overly warm. We dunked our wetsuits in some freezing cold water and then hung them back up, that was the cleaning they had so seriously please don’t pee in your suit. We then made our way inside where we had a complimentary cup of tea, bowl of soup with a fresh bread roll. Our tour guides had been taking some photos as we went round, for obvious reasons we couldn’t take our cameras or phone, and they offered us the package to buy the pictures which we split between us. Most of the photos are us in the dark with a surprise super bright flash so we all look a bit dazed but it’s a good reminder of what we went through and managed to achieve which was pretty cool.

Our Airbnb for the night was just down the road, a hut with a number of rooms of which we have one to share between the three of us. However no one else was booked in, so we had the place to ourselves. We had a bit of food that I had brought from home and some hot showers which we all now craved before settling down for dinner and a movie. Viv being the 1st to go for a shower noticed that there were a few spiders in the bathroom, none of us are fans of spiders so we needed to do something about this, when I say a few they were about 20 and all webbing their way across the shower ready to eat whoever was brave enough to step inside. So we sent Andy in, and I’m sorry to say one spider massacre later we were able to have showers. There was a selection of DVDs at the cabin one of which was a famous New Zealand film that I haven’t seen yet, although not overly joyful it’s a great film, so spider massacre and ‘once were warriors’ is the main memory of that accommodation.

The next morning we drove to Rotorua, to our accommodation ‘the funky green Voyager’, booked by Viv, quickly dropped off stuff and headed to Te Puia for a full day of activities. Te Puia is a geothermal site in the Whakarewarewa valley also known as Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, which they challenge you to say on your way in. We had tickets for Te Ra and Te Po which meant we had the day to walk the paths stopping at mud pools, steaming vents and the largest geyser in the Southern Hemisphere and at night we had a show and hangi to look forward to. One of the highlights was definitely the kiwi conservation house, kiwis are nocturnal so it is kept dark inside during the day so visitors can see the birds awake. Te puia is part of a national programme to protect and breed kiwis, they are kept behind sound proof glass with natural vegetation that mimics the nz bush and stops them being disturbed. We saw north island brown kiwis which are the most common and bigger than you’d think, about the size of a chicken. They stomp loudly through vegetation and snuffle and snort their way along the floor, they also have big bums and can’t fly which means since nz was colonised and kiwi eating mammals started to come ashore their numbers have declined; they’re quite easy to track. Sad face

Te puia is also home to the Maori arts and craft school where young Maori students can learn wood, bone and stone carving (including pounamu jade) so the history of their people and the crafts handed down over generations is not lost. We were able to walk around the school, above the workshops and see some of the amazing art the students were working on, with simple tools and complicated techniques the products are fantastic.

Towards the evening we were ushered into the Marae, which is the Maori meeting house, where historically the culture is to be celebrated. You gather outside and wait to be invited in, this is where large, burly Maori men come at you with spears and fire to test your grit, if they like you they’ll offer you a leaf or branch and an older woman from the family with perform a karanga meaning you are welcome to enter. Inside we were treated to a wonderful show including Maori music, song, Hakka, poi and even a chance to get up and learn ourselves. Then the hangi feast (pork, potato, kumara and fish all cooked in the earth oven for the last few hours) we stuffed our faces from this delicious banquet and were surprised to learn the evening wasn’t finished. We were offered a ride in their vehicles (almost a petite train) down to the geysers to sit under the stars, on naturally heated stone seats and even enjoy some hot chocolate. Had I eaten even one potato less I would have had space for the hot choc, but enjoyed the sitting and geysers by night very much.

The next day was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, how I had managed to save myself in nine months from going to Hobbiton I don’t know, but I had a feeling I would be going quite a lot with my visitors so I managed to stop myself. The Sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were booked on a lunchtime tour which included a buffet in a tent on the grounds of Hobbiton next to the Green Dragon pub. Now obviously we had stuffed our faces the night before at the hangi but somehow we still managed to eat quite well for lunch! They check you in away from the site and then you board a coach which drives the short distance to Hobbiton, along the way Peter Jackson welcomes you and you meet the family who own the farm that the filmset was built on. When I visited the site 10 years previously there wasn’t enough to see on the old set so the tour also included a visit to the sheep farm to watch some sheering, my how things have changed. Nothing can quite describe the feeling I got as we walked through the small gap in the hedge and entered Hobbiton as it is now, when I came before there were only a few remnants of some hobbit holes everything else had been taken down or destroyed. But now, not only were there fully built and decorated hobbit holes, beautiful paths to follow, a fully grown vegetable garden, the lake, the mill, the pub, but some of the houses even had smoke coming from the chimneys. The tour takes you round all of the main sites and the guides tell you a number of stories from filming both the lord of the rings and the hobbit including how they found the site and what drew them to it. One of the reasons was that there is nothing else around, and so the whole set feels so real, so immersive and just truly magical; at least to me. You finish in the Green Dragon pub with a large mug of beer that is only brewed to be sold at Hobbiton, which is a shame because it’s really tasty. Sadly, you board the coach to be taken back to the check-in and enjoy another little video from Peter Jackson about how meaningful and special the experience of filming the trilogy was, accompanied by background music of the saddest part of Return of the King; seriously it’s like they’re trying to kill me in this place.

Even more sadly, this was the end of our road trip and almost the end of Viv and Andy’s visit, we drove back to Auckland and with only plans to meet up the next day for dinner (because I had to meet some other people at the airport) I left them at their Auckland flat. And on to the next adventure…

[camillepictures]

#Post 25 : Carnet de voyage NZ

Te Puia 

En venant à Rotorua, nous savions que l’on pourrait trouver un parc regroupant à la fois une réserve thermale, un village maori et une maison des kiwis. 

Nous voilà donc au parc de Te Puia, à Whakarewarewa, tout près du centre ville de Rotorua. 

Notre visite commence au Marae, le lieu de réunion d’une tribu. Nous y sommes “accueillies” par le chef d’une tribu qui enchaîne un ensemble de gestes d’intimidation sur tout le long de l’allée, accompagné de chants et de cris des autres membres de la tribu. 

Une fois à l’intérieur, chants, danses et haka font notre plus grand bonheur, ambiance et frissons garantis ! Une initiation au haka est même proposée, ce fut assez drôle de voir des asiatiques s’y essayer ! 

A la sortie du Marae, nous tombons nez à nez avec cet impressionnant canoë de guerre, entièrement sculpté et baptisé : “Te Arawai” (Chemin à travers l’eau). Long de 19 mètres, il peut embarquer 30 guerriers.

Vient ensuite le moment tant attendu de la visite des kiwis !

Le plaisir fut de courte durée, car ce sont des animaux nocturnes qui passent leur temps à manger, mais surtout à dormir.

Après avoir longtemps cherché dans leur enclos reconstituant leur habitat  qui est plongé dans la pénombre, nous avons finalement vu à l’écran de contrôle des petites boules de plumes en train de dormir dans leur petite cachette...

Néanmoins, pour contenter les visiteurs, ils ont placé un kiwi empaillé à l’entrée, histoire d’avoir une idée plus précise de la bête !

De retour à lumière du soleil, nous poursuivons à travers la réserve thermale du parc.

Pohutu est le plus grand geyser de l’hémisphère sud. Il entre en éruption une ou deux fois par heure et ses jaillissements atteignent parfois 30 mètres de haut.

Cette piscine thermale est appelée “The Blueys Pool” pour sa couleur, bleu cobalt.

Pour cuisiner, ils utilisent l’évent à vapeur naturelle, la chaleur du sol leur permet de se préparer de bons petits plats.

Enfin nous prenons le chemin direction les écoles de sculpture et de tissage (NZMACI). Aperçu du travail des étudiants œuvrant sur de magnifiques pièces.  

Coquillages de Paua, qui ornent certaines sculptures.

Le 25 décembre 2017

[giletmarco]

Te Puia, in Rotarua. This is the recognized center for Maori culture, art and traditions. They also feature awesome geothermal geysers and pools of volcanic mud and hot water. In fact steam can be observed rising out of several cracks or holes in the ground all around the city of Rotarua. All these geothermal attractions are due to activity of the volcanic caldera in which the city is located. Enjoyed a guided tour that showed off the geysers, and also Maori crafts, and a performance of their music and dance, including the famous Haka. Topped off by dinner, savoring Hangi cooking, and a late evening geyser display. #tepuia #maori #maorispirit #rotarua #geothermal #geysers #northisland #newzealand #aleapoffaith #pilgrim #songofthemoment 🎼 Beth Orton 🎶 A Place Aside https://www.instagram.com/p/B1F_XXojGOe/?igshid=7eqgbagub7ig

[alantruong]

The Lady Knox Geyser! So the mystery about this guy here is the fact that it’s induced. However, there is in fact geothermal water underneath, the pressure under surface isn’t high enough to cause it to erupt like it is here. So, there’s a person that induces the geyser to erupt as such by throwing some type of wetting agent to break apart the cold water near the top so that the hot water underneath can rise up. I didn’t know the difference between a natural geyser and an induced one until I saw both with my very own eyes in New Zealand. Most of the geysers people probably see are like this one, where it looks really cool and erupts really high, but is induced versus an all natural geyser that’s unpredictable in it’s eruptions. Since this post is about an induced geyser, my next post will be about the natural geyser ^_^ I hope you enjoyed the bit of knowledge I learned from being out there! Also, the fleece I’m wearing is sponsored by @hillcityofficial Check out their summer apparel by visiting hill city.gap.com - I received winter gear because I was going to Australia and New Zealand and it’s winter out there 😊👌🏼 #LadyKnoxGeyser #LadyKnox #Geyser #GeothermalWonders #TePuia #Rotorua #NewZealand #WEAREHILLCITY #HillCityOfficial (at Lady Knox Geyser) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzPA8JJgqH5/?igshid=r1t55ua7jbsb

[elviajedevino-blog]

Te Puia was a cool experience. The geyser did it’s thing exactly when we were there. The sky and clouds were absolutely phenomenal. We even had a steam box lunch where our food was cooked for 2 hours on top of a natural geothermal vent. My Face is truly frightening, but the T-shirt was on point. #elviaje #travelnewzealand #visitnewzealand #wanderlust #imgoingonanadventure #hiking #rotorua #tepuia (at Te Puia - Rotorua, NZ) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtwxK0Mn9iy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ullz39r4ueyo

[justinysl]

Pool of Boiling Mud #tepuia #kokomudpool #boilingmud #rotorua #newzealand #travel (at Te Puia - Rotorua, NZ) https://www.instagram.com/p/Btoq90Sgc8dpRuixaKOb_cOJ4f5WqV0bcdP68Q0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=omtewvlgiqly

[lovelypetboutique]

#tepuia #maori #freedom #green #mothernature #maoriculture #maorihome #maorivillage #beautifulworld #greenland #nature #newzealand #photography #beautifulview #picoftheday #pic #picture #pictureoftheday #travel #travelling #travelblogger #traveller #travellingthroughtheworld #girlaroundworld #girlaroundtheworld (presso Te Puia - Rotorua, NZ) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqdM0FAALkf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1v6g1jknmu0ir

[toiariki]

Worked up at TE PUIA today, awesome day 1 at the celebration of 50years for the carving school, we there till Sunday Whanau 😜 work on the tree trunks!! #tamoko #moko #mana #maori #toiariki #tepuia #nzmaci (at Te Puia - Rotorua, NZ)

[timgrubb]

[blogclasseturista]

🇬🇧 What a wonderful landscape! This is a Geothermal Wonder called Te Puia, in Rotorua, New Zealand, just 3 hours by car from Auckland. This destination is on my List!👍 * 🇵🇹 Que paisagem incrível! Te Puia é um Vale com geisers e outras maravilhas geotermais. Fica em Rotorua, na Nova Zelândia, a poucas horas de carro de Auckland. Está na minha lista!👍 * Picture Credits: @mariliapiola, @alisonmartinssouza * #rotorua #rotoruanz #newzealand #northisland #novazelandia #auckland #geyzer #tepuia #photooftheday #brazilianblogger #travelblog #viajaromundo #travelblogger #classeturista #lugarincomum #love #cute #instagood #instagram #pelomundo #viciadaemviagem (em Rotorua, New Zealand)

[thejeannejournal]

Te Puia Geyser [Rotorua, New Zealand] #TePuia #Geyser #NewZealand #Jeannedventures #clozette

[ueberdenozean]

T E P U I A • R O T O R U A

met some locals at the maori village, watched a traditional maori show and had dinner with them :)

- day 10 -

[jc-ontour-blog]

Unsere Ausflüge

Bekannt ist Neuseeland natürlich vor allem für seine Maorikultur. Das wollten wir auch einmal miterleben. Deshalb ging es für uns am 18.01. nach Rotorua. Neben dem größten Geysir auf der Südhalbkugel beeindruckte uns am Abend auch die Performance der Maori. Es wurde getanzt, gesungen, gekämpft, uns wurde der Haka (traditioneller Kriegstanz der Maori, bei dem durch Zurschaustellung körperlicher Kraft, Beweglichkeit und Entschlossenheit dem Gegner der Wind aus den Segeln genommen werden soll) gezeigt und wir konnten neben anderen Köstlichkeiten auch das traditionelle Hangi mit im Boden gegarten Kumera, Kartoffeln und Kürbis probieren. Wirklich eine tolle Erfahrung!

Unser nächster Ausflug ging am 22.01. nach Waitomo in die Waitomo Caves. Dort wollten wir sogenanntes Black Water Rafting machen. Das heißt, man sitzt in einer Art Schwimmreifen und treibt auf einem Fluss in einer Höhle durch die Dunkelheit. Hin und wieder gibt es kleine “Wasserfälle”, die man dann mit dem Reifen am Po rückwärts runterspringt. Außerdem konnte man, wenn man die Stirnlampen ausgemacht hat, Glühwürmchen sehen. Alles in allem wirklich sehr beeindruckend, aber auch sehr kalt. Als wir das zweite Mal nach Rotorua fuhren, ging es nach Wai-O-Tapu. Nachdem wir den Lady Knox Geysir (künstlich) ausbrechen gesehen haben, machten wir uns auf durch den Park, wo wir weitere blubbernde Matschbäder, Krater und durch Mineralien stark farbige Seen anschauten.

[herfuzziness]

“Honey, it’s not about the smell.” - Vivian #ImInRotorua #BigToeDoesOceania #TePuia #PōhutuGeyser #BaptizeMeInLava #TheSmellIsStillKillingMe (at Pohutu Geyser) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqqrQoFBPmJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nmye6xl1hpvj

[chezdricks]

Acho que essa é a palavra mais longa que já vi! E não faço a mínima idéia do que significa! 😂😂 Em #Rotorua #TePuia #NovaZelandia #Oceania https://www.instagram.com/p/BiX_a_9HOHI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jepqvu3ohjbd