Soak in city of sulphur

By BOB MARRIOTT

You either love or hate the smell of sulphur that heralds the approach to Rotorua, the bubbling, steaming, bustling tourist centre of the inland Bay of Plenty.

Nicknamed Sulphur City, Rotorua is a centre of Maori culture plus all the golf, walking, sight-seeing, trout fishing, boating and relaxing you can handle.

The thermal areas set Rotorua apart. Where else is it possible to take a stroll around an extensive public park and, alongside the flower gardens, watch the steam rising from natural hot pools or bathe in the warm mineral waters? Kuirau Gardens provide this attraction free.

The Maori Arts and Crafts Institute has a constant stream of fascinated visitors keen to be taken round carving and weaving displays and entertained with song and dance outside an intricately carved meeting house. On the grounds visitors are guided through Whakarewarewa, with its spectacular Pohutu geyser, boiling mud pools and dramatic thermal activity.

South of the town, the Waimangu Valley, which was formed by the Tarawera eruption of 1886, provides an intriguing three-hour walk passing boiling pools and scalding streams. This can be followed with a cruise on the placid waters of beautiful lake Rotomahana, with views of Mount Tarawera and some magnificent countryside.

The aptly named Hell's Gate is another scene of volcanic movement, with a hot 8ha of weird formations and the largest hot waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere. The really adventurous can try single or tandem parachuting at the airport just outside the town.

The waterfront of Lake Rotorua is the backdrop to a variety of attractions. Helicopters and floatplanes are available for scenic flights and many trout-fishing trips leave from here. The lakes and streams are an angler's dream - if outwitting the fighting rainbow trout is your idea of paradise you need look no further.

After an energetic day, evening cruises are fashionable and the paddleboat Lakeland Queen has a fully licensed restaurant with live entertainment, taking visitors to Mokoia Island under dramatic sunsets.

From the lakefront jetty it is just a few minutes' walk to the picturesque and historic Maori village of Ohinemutu, while in the opposite direction a path follows the lake to the Government House and gardens. A large, Tudor-style building housing a museum, it overlooks a brilliant flower display, and the grounds which extend to the lake front include a golf course and driving range.

Everyone is welcome on the Rotorua golf course but be warned, it is advisable to forfeit your ball if it ends up in a hot pool or boiling mud.

The Agrodome complex takes visitors by the coach-load for a New Zealand farm experience. A stroll through a kiwifruit orchard, sheep-dog demonstrations, sheep shearing, animal feeding and clay-bird shooting are just a few of the attractions plus the opportunity to milk a cow by hand.

In the grounds the audacious can be strapped inside a huge plastic ball before being rolled downhill.

Don't miss Rainbow Springs where a cable-car ascent of Mt Ngongataha provides stunning views over the city, particularly at night. The more daring can make the descent on the luge, racing downhill on a small, low-level cart.

For more action a four by four farm bike experience is on hand, or if you want to slow the pace down, try a horse trek.

Directly opposite Fairy Springs the de Flute glass-blowing studio offers an insight into one of the oldest crafts on earth. Artists turn molten glass into beautiful ornaments that are finding their way into a new breed of gift shops such as Madhouse in the city centre.

Whatever the season, Rotorua has a huge variety of experiences to offer - most visitors run out of time long before they run out of things to do.