A road trip away from Auckland is Rotorua, an area called Te Puia by the Maori. The nearby thermal reserve is bubbling and spewing with geysers, a dramatic place to walk—very carefully! The Pohutu Geyser, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest natural geyser, erupts two or three times an hour. Its name means “constantly splashing.”
Rotorua is home to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, a school for indigenous traditional arts. The full native name for this place is on the green sign below; I won’t try to transcribe it here. Maori origins are believed to have come in canoes from Pacific islands. The complex includes a wood carving school. We were greeted with the Maori gesture, rubbing noses, and the traditional haka dance. It was heartwarming to see how New Zealand culture honors its indigenous population.
Along the road in Rotorua
New Zealand
North Island: Auckland, Rotorua, Hobbiton, Wellington
South Island: Abel Tasman National Park, Kaikoura, Christchurch, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dunedin, Otago, Oamaru, Moeraki
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Ruth Rosenfeld 
You certainly got a very warm welcome 🙂
I love that colorfull tree in the last picture. Is it paint or is it fabric ?
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It’s fabric, and is wrapped around the tree as if fashioned exactly to fit.
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That’s what I thought too. I also saw some trees in one of our parks that had been wrapped in this way. Very nice to see Ruth!
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Thanks for your visit and comments, Rudi!
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Great post and so many wonderful photos. I especially love your photo of the geyser, Ruth as these amazing natural spectacles that shoot powerful columns of water and steam into the air, have fascinated me, but I have yet to see one. Thanks for sharing, and have a wonderful day 🙂 Aiva xx
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Thank you, Aiva! There are many places around the U.S. west that have hot springs, but only one area that I know of that has geysers. They are quite amazing.
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Beautiful pictures and commentary, as always. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much for your visit!
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Great post and wonderful photos. I loved everything in it
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Thank you as always, Luisa!
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You’re more than welcome, dear Ruth 💝
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We enjoyed Roturua so much on our visit to New Zealand. Great photos as always! Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, Carol!
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I wish I bought a hand-carved mask when I was there. Beautiful pictures and the Moari culture. Maggie
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The masks are beautiful, such craftsmanship. I didn’t think of it either. Thanks, Maggie.
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I’m really taken with the tree in the final photo. The tree itself is amazing, with limbs pointing all over the place. And the designs painted on it are beautiful.
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I don’t know what kind of tree it is. There are many that are native to NZ that I’ve never heard of. It’s not painted, it’s dressed in fabric!
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That’s probably the longest single word in a place name on Earth! Geysers are indeed spectacular but not always easy to catch the moment in a photograph, you caught it well!
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I suspect the language is similar to the way German often strings words together to form a longer one. The geysers at that site seemed to last long enough for me to take a bunch of serial photos. 😊
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I really like that aboriginal culture remains preserved. I like the carved mask, too.
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Their wood carvings show their attention to craftsmanship.
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This is somewhere I’ve always fancied visiting, the geology fascinates me as does the native culture. Thank you for sharing a bit of each 🙂
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My pleasure! Thanks for reading.
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How awesome you visited Rotorua and got to learn a lot about Maori culture! I don’t know much about New Zealand culture, but I think it’s pretty neat that, despite having a bunch of British influence as a former colony, the country does its best to retain the indigenous culture and language. Thanks for sharing your time there. 🙂
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This indigenous arts center was quite impressive. New Zealand culture is friendly and laid-back, and accepting as well. Thanks for your comment, Rebecca!
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Ooh, geysers often means hot springs nearby. Did you get to soak? I would love to go to NZ and learn about Maori culture. What a great experience.
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We didn’t get to hot springs on this trip. We crammed too much into a one day driving trip from Auckland (including my next post). Should have stayed overnight around Rotorua. But really, we were in a hurry to get to the South Island.
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I’m planning our 2025 trip (in my head) and I’m currently making those kinds of decisions: should we stay 2 nights here, or 3? Should we do a day trip to this or to that? Should we spend more time in this country or less time? It’s impossible to know until you do it, but by then it’s usually too late. Oh well – that’s the nature of travel.
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They are difficult decisions, but it’s fun researching it. You are so good at this! That’s why you’re the Architect. 😊
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Haha – thanks.
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We went to the same Maori place. I loved seeing some of their culture, pleased that it’s being maintained. And that geyser is truly something else. I couldn’t believe how high it went, and for how long!
Alison
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It was quite fascinating, glad you were there too. And so was the geyser and thermal area, much more active than others I’ve seen.
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Wonderful, this is most definitely on my list if we ever make it to New Zealand – hopefully one day soon! 🙂
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I have no doubt you will make it to New Zealand!
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Rotorua is a fascinating place with its hot springs. Your photos and description brought back fond memories of Haka dancers and nose rubs. Thanks, Ruth.
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I’m glad this post brought back good memories for you. Thank you, Jane.
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Great shot of the geyser. Reminds me of Yellowstone. The wood carving looks incredible.
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The geysers I’ve seen in Yellowstone and Iceland are pretty quick so it’s harder to get a good photo. This one lasts a while! The wood work of the Maori is beautiful and detailed. So nice that they are passing these skill down through generations.
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An interesting place to visit both geologically and culturally! The woodcarving looks amazing. That’s a really great photo of the geyser.
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Thanks, this cultural center was high on my list in NZ and didn’t disappoint.
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