THERAPY: A good soak in the hot pools at the Polynesian Spa was just the ticket after an exhaustring day of travel and action-packed activities. Picture by Graeme Murray,
Murky water swished around the tops of our tyres as we plunged through a deep mud hole on a bumpy dirt track, hoping we wouldn’t stall or get stuck.
“Jeepers!” gasped my daughter India.
Luckily we were not driving through the bush in our own car. Instead, we were participating in the utterly exhilarating, more than a little terrifying and incredibly fun 4WD Bush Safari at Off Road NZ.
With names like “Highway to Hell”, “Chunnel” and “Car wash”, the safari’s challenges set the heart racing.
While instructor Jeff went ahead on foot, giving directions via walkie talkie, I drove a Suzuki Jimny in convoy with two other adrenalin-seeking families along an old logging track from the 1900s which has been left to regenerate in native bush.
One of the first scary tasks was the Bridge under Construction, in which drivers had to line up their wheels on a bridge comprising a metal beam and a wooden post — with a big drop in between.
Then there was the heart-pounding “Roll me over” — driving with one side of the car up a bank while the other two wheels remained on flat ground.
I thought driving down the Waterfall into a deep pond of water would be the epitome of frightening. But that was before we came to the Luge, an 80-degree, seven-metre drop to the ground, which looked downright vertical as I peered nervously from the top.
“It’s just one big skid all the way down. It makes it one big waterslide basically,” said Jeff.
When he then announced we had to drive it with our feet off the pedals (and yes that included the brakes), and I realised I’d be freefalling in a car off the edge of a bank with just a shove from him to get me going, I had a brief moment of hesitation. Descending the steepest slope I’ve ever driven in my life without using brakes went against every fibre of my being. But that only contributed to the sheer exhilaration that the drivers and their passengers felt as they dropped, screaming in terror, then cheered with big belly laughs as they landed at the bottom — thoroughly intact.
After we returned to the base, big smiles plastered on everyone’s faces, I joined the Monster 4x4 Thrill Ride.
Belted in and helmeted up, Jeff took me on a hair-raising 10-minute adrenaline ride, bouncing and speeding along the twisting, narrow bush tracks, and skidding around muddy water holes, tasting mud as we went. The terror reached its peak during the Rollercoaster, a hands up, eyes closed experience. As I removed the wet weather gear after my ride was over — face splattered in mud and a big grin — I glanced across at the forest from where the high-pitched screams of the next group emanated. I can only hope my screams weren’t that loud!
It was my daughter who discovered Off Road NZ, after we read about another nine-year-old who planned his family’s entire summer holiday. India set about researching our Rotorua trip, and planned a very eclectic mix of activities for our weekend away.
Top of her must-see list was Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park, to see the two lion cubs who were born in May.
Sadly there are fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild, but Paradise Valley Springs supports their conservation.
“I’m so excited, I’ve never patted a lion,” exclaimed India as she charged past the pigs, deer, kea, Himalayan tahr and wallabies in her eagerness to make the afternoon lion encounter arrive faster.
In fact, she had seen Xander when she was a toddler, and I was amazed that the adorable cub I remembered from several years ago was now the king of the pride, staring down onlookers with his beautiful marble brown eyes. When the 2.30pm feeding time arrived Xander took pride of place by the fence, loudly growling his impatience for his dinner to be thrown over.
The current pride is descended from retired circus lions Paradise Valley Springs received in the 1980s. There are nine in the present family including the two new cubs. Amazingly they recognise their names, and as the keeper throws meat over the fence shouting “Xander! Hana! Benji! Bella! Luca!”, the respective animals look up to catch their meal.
After the lion feeding we joined the line to pat the cubs — a female who was mostly blissed out asleep in the arms of a handler while the queue snaked along, and an energetic male who played with chew toys. When it was finally our turn, we rubbed their soft, warm backs and tummies, carefully avoiding their heads as directed by staff. It was rather like patting a friendly moggy, and hard to imagine that this time next year we would be easy prey for these big cats. Paradise Valley Springs allows the cubs to be patted in the arms of a handler until they are approximately six months old, then through mesh for another six months.
Hearts full from cub patting we walked around the park again, stopping by the Ngongotaha Stream to feed the wild rainbow trout and brown trout that swim up from lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti to spawn at Paradise Valley Springs in the winter months. We followed the treetop walk, sometimes six metres high amid the canopy of native trees. And we hand-fed the friendly alpacas, a donkey, lambs and rabbits. I think to the nine-year-old though nothing compared with patting a lion.
Still eager to enjoy nature we made two trips to the Redwoods Treewalk, to experience the day and night time walks.
The 700 metre treewalk comprises 28 bridges and 27 platforms, ranging from 6 metres to 20 metres above the forest floor.
Coastal redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, reaching up to 115 metres in the right conditions. The tallest tree on the treewalk is a whopping 72 metres high and is one of the original redwood plantings in the Whakarewarewa Forest from 1901.
By day the treewalk is peaceful and calming — we walked high above the ferns, the majestic redwoods towering even higher above us. As we bounced along a swing bridge a lone cyclist rode beneath, enjoying the Redwoods Mokopuna trail which is another enjoyable Rotorua activity for walkers and cyclists.
By night the walkway transforms into an enchanting wonderland, with light installations creating a magical atmosphere. As we entered, thousands of fairy lights beamed on to the trees, sparkling like fireflies. Spectacular lanterns by David Trubridge hang from high branches, while the ferns are illuminated by colourful lights, and the eyes of realistic looking moreporks watched us from the tree trunks they were beamed on to. While our day time experience had a back to nature feel, at night we felt like we were on a magical adventure.
After an exhausting day of travel and action-packed activities we discovered there’s nothing better than a soak in the famed Polynesian Spa, where therapeutic geothermal mineral waters have been enticing tourists since the late 19th century.
Some of the pools are fed by the acidic Priest Spring, which soothes aching muscles and joints. The spring was so named after an arthritic Catholic priest was carried from Tauranga to bathe in its waters in 1878 then miraculously managed to walk home again.
The other pools are fed from the alkaline Rachel Spring which nourishes skin. It was once believed that those who bathed in the Rachel Spring water would be blessed with ageless beauty. I’m not convinced a fountain of youth can turn back the clock for me, but the Polynesian Spa has certainly mastered the secret to forcing an active relaxer such as myself to stop and be still.
We started off in the deluxe lake spa, five hot pools enclosed by native bush and overlooking Lake Rotorua. The view alone is enough to make you stop and relax, but then you slip into the 36°C to 41°C pools and all the tension of the day slips away. India challenged me to jump into the cold plunge pool, but wimp that I am I only made it as far as my knees before fleeing to the nearest hot pool.
India was desperate to try out the family pools. She alternated between whizzing down a slide and landing with a splash in the 33°C kid-friendly pool, and doing somersaults in the deeper end while overlooked by a lifeguard. Meanwhile I blissed out floating in the 37°C and 40°C pools alongside, feeling like I was in a gloriously warm, infinitely relaxing giant bath.
Bathers aged 12 and older also have the option of the Pavilion pools, which includes Priest Spring and Rachel Spring pools and a reflexology walk.
Of course, any self-respecting travel itinerary planned by a nine-year-old girl has to include a horse trek, and India found us one at Longford’s Farm by Lake Okareka.
Horse Trekking Lake Okareka operates a number of different treks catering for all abilities, ranging from a 30-minute “nervous beginners” ride, to a three-hour trek to the trig station at the highest point of the farm, 1000 metres above sea level. We booked the 90-minute ride which incorporates a bit of everything: bush, pasture, great lake views, and a decent amount of time on a horse but not so long our derrieres would ache.
The trek started by walking single file up a hill, one side covered in dense native forest, the other in paddocks which dropped away to Lake Okareka. After a while the paddocks gave way to tree ferns, with pretty glimpses of lake between the branches. India’s horse and mine, Ponga and Dex,were sure- footed and chilled, and I quickly forgot my worries about them stumbling on the rain-slicked ground and instead began to relax in the saddle, enjoying the trek and the scenery.
Eventually we turned away from the lake, and were surprised to see three wild deer grazing near sheep paddocks above us. Realising they’d been spotted, the deer turned and bolted into the bush.
We continued across the farm, waiting briefly while trek operator Lucy Playne ushered three wayward cows back into the paddocks they’d escaped from. Just as we reached the turning point near the top a rain front came over, turning the expansive landscape before us to grey and obliterating the spectacular views of Lake Tarawera and Mount Tarawera that the trek is renowned for. Luckily Lucy had provided us with wet weather gear so we stayed dry.
Back at the barn we inhaled the fresh country air one more time before heading for home, happy and content after a whirlwind couple of days enjoying some of the best family-friendly activities Rotorua has to offer. Where else can you drive like a hooligan along muddy tracks, pat a lion, get a bird’s-eye view of a forest, soak in geothermal water, and ride a horse across the hills, in one weekend?
Off Road NZ
Paradise Valley Springs
Redwoods Treewalk
Polynesian Spa
Horse Trekking Lake Okareka
© Copyright Julie Haines 2021
Some of Aotearoa’s threatened wildlife is coming back from the brink.