Rotorua, Bay of Plenty Region, North Island, New Zealand

🇳🇿 Rotorua (Māori: Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe) is a city on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua from which the city takes its name, in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua and several other nearby towns. Rotorua is the country's 12th largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's second largest urban area behind Tauranga.

Rotorua is a major destination for both domestic and international tourists; the tourism industry is by far the largest industry in the district. It is known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers – notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa – and hot mud pools. This thermal activity is sourced to the Rotorua Caldera, in which the town lies. Rotorua is home to the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.

History The name Rotorua comes from the Māori language, where the full name for the city and lake is Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Roto means 'lake' and rua means 'two' or in this case, 'second' – Rotorua thus meaning 'Second lake'. Kahumatamomoe was the uncle of the Māori chief Ihenga, the ancestral explorer of the Te Arawa. It was the second major lake the chief discovered, and he dedicated it to his uncle. It is the largest of a multitude of lakes found to the north-east, all connected with the Rotorua Caldera and nearby Mount Tarawera. The name can also mean the equally appropriate 'Crater lake'.

The area was initially settled by Māori of the Te Arawa Iwi in the 14th century. During the early 1820s Ngāpuhi led by chief Hongi Hika launched a series of raids into the Bay of Plenty as a part of the Musket Wars, in 1823 a Ngapuhi raiding party led by Hongi Hika attacked Te Arawa at their Pā (Fortified settlement) on Mokoia Island defeating them. The first European in the area was probably Phillip Tapsell who was trading from the Bay of Plenty coast at Maketu from 1828. He later married into Te Arawa and became highly regarded by them. Missionaries Henry Williams and Thomas Chapman visited in 1831 and Chapman and his wife established a mission at Te Koutu in 1835. This was abandoned within a year, but Chapman returned in 1838 and established a second mission at Mokoia Island.

The lakeshore was a prominent site of skirmishes during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. A "special town district" was created in 1883, to promote Rotorua's potential as a spa destination. The town was connected to Auckland with the opening of the Rotorua Branch railway and commencement of the Rotorua Express train in 1894, resulting in the rapid growth of the town and tourism from this time forward. Rotorua was established as a borough in 1922, elected its first mayor in 1923, and declared a city in 1962 before becoming a district in 1979.

Suburbs Inner suburbs • Rotorua Central • Fenton Park • Glenholme • Ohinemutu • Ōwhata • Mangakakahi • Western Heights • Selwyn Heights • Sunnybrook • Westbrook • Fordlands • Springfield • Tihi-Ōtonga • Lynmore • Victoria • Pukehangi • Kawaha Point • Koutu • Hillcrest • Utuhina • Whakarewarewa • Ngāpuna • Holdens Bay • Hannahs Bay • Fairy Springs • Pomare • Poets' Corner • Kuirau

Outer suburbs • Hamurana • Tikitere • Tarawera • Ngongotahā • Okareka • Horohoro

Geothermal areas Thermal activity is at the heart of much of Rotorua's tourist appeal. Geysers and bubbling mud pools, hot thermal springs and Te Wairoa ("The Buried Village") — so named after it was buried by the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption— are within easy reach of Rotorua.

In Kuirau Park, to the west end of Rotorua, hot bubbling mud pools dot the park. Visitors can soak their feet in hot pools.

A common nickname for Rotorua is "Sulphur City" due to the hydrogen sulphide emissions, which gives the city a smell similar to "rotten eggs", as well as "Rotten-rua" combining its legitimate name and the rotten smell prevalent. Another common nickname is "Roto-Vegas", likening the city's own strip of road flanked by businesses and restaurants to that of Las Vegas.

The especially pungent smell in the central-east 'Te Ngae' area is due to the dense sulphur deposits located next to the southern boundary of the Government Gardens, in the area known as 'Sulphur Point'.

Lakes The Rotorua region has 17 lakes, known collectively as the Lakes of Rotorua. Fishing, waterskiing, swimming and other water activities are popular in summer. The lakes are also used for event venues; Rotorua hosted the 2007 World Waterski Championships and Lake Rotorua was the venue for the World Blind Sailing Championships in March 2009. Lake Rotorua is also used as a departure and landing point for float planes.

Attractions Rotorua is also home to botanical gardens and historic architecture. Known as a spa town and major tourist resort since the 1800s, many of its buildings hint at this history. Government Gardens, close to the lake-shore at the eastern edge of the town, are a particular point of pride. The Rotorua Museum of Art and History is housed in the large Tudor-style bath house building while the Art Deco style Blue Baths, noted for their embrace of mixed sex bathing in the 1930s, remain open today.

Another of Rotorua's attractions is mountain biking. Whakarewarewa Forest was listed as one of the Top 8 locations globally by Red Bull Magazine in 2012. The forest includes over 100 km of mountain bike trails and in August 2006 was a host of the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships. In 2015, Rotorua hosted the Southern Hemisphere leg of the Crankworx mountain bike event.

The Rotorua Pistol club is among the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and hosted the 2013 Australasian IPSC Handgun Championship.

The Kaituna River, 15 minutes drive north-east of the CBD, provides class 5 whitewater kayaking and rafting through a spectacular tree lined gorge.

The region is home to 16 lakes. These are popular for recreation such as boating and fishing. Several of the lakes are stocked for sports fishing with trout from the Fish and Game New Zealand hatchery at Ngongotahā.

Another visitor attraction in the Ngongotahā area is the Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre. It is a captive breeding facility and visitor centre located in the Ngongotahā Valley. Wingspan undertakes conservation, education and research activities related to birds of prey found in New Zealand, and provides demonstrations of falconry.

Transport: Road Rotorua is served by state highways 5, 30, and 30A, and the Thermal Explorer Highway touring route, with state highways 33 and 36 terminating on the outskirts of the town.

State Highway 5, running concurrently with the Thermal Explorer Highway, is the main north–south route through Rotorua, bypassing the town centre to the west. North of the town at Ngongotahā, State Highway 36 splits off to provide a route to Tauranga via Pyes Pa, while State Highway 5 turns westward, connecting to State Highway 1 at Tīrau and providing the main route into Rotorua from Hamilton and Auckland. To the south, State Highway 5 provides the main route from Taupō, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, and Wellington.

State Highway 30 runs south-west to north-east through the town. It enters the town in the south-west (running concurrently with SH 5), before crossing the southern suburbs to the shore of Lake Rotorua east of the town centre. It then runs through the suburb of Te Ngae, before splitting off SH 33 to continue eastwards.

State Highway 30A runs north-west to south-east, connecting State Highways 5 and 30 with each other via the town centre.

Transport: Bus Rotorua has a local bus service, with 11 routes under the Baybus brand, serving the urban area, mostly at half-hourly intervals, operated by Reesby Buses. Bike racks were introduced in 2017 and Bee Cards for fares on 27 July 2020. Trial commuter services between Rotorua and Tauranga are running in each direction until the end of 2021. The city is also served by InterCity and services to local tourist sites.

History Edwin Robertson, who died aged 74 in 1931, started with pack horses in 1869 and ran coaches from 1873. In 1902, the Tauranga route was sold and became Robertson & Co, then, about 1903, Rotorua Motor Coaching Co. Ltd. In 1904, Hot Lakes Transport, which ran trips to Taupo, Waiotapu and all the lakes, and Rotorua Motor Coaching added motor cars to their fleets of coaches. In 1905 E. Robertson & Co moved from Ohinemutu to the new town, close to the new railway station, which remained the main stop until InterCity moved to their stop from Hinemoa / Fenton Street to the Tourism Office in 1995. The last coach ran in 1919. When Hot Lakes Transport's assets were sold in 1920, they had 10 coaches and 3 motor cars. In September 1920, Rotorua Motor Transport Co. was formed and took over Hot Lakes Transport Co. and Rotorua Motor Coaching Co, continuing with similar services. In 1926, a consortium of local operators formed Rotorua Bus Co. During 1922, Kusab's transport company became K Motors, which was taken over by the railways in 1938. Rotorua Motor Transport and Rotorua Bus Co followed in 1940 and all became part of New Zealand Railways Road Services.

Transport: Air Rotorua Regional Airport is located 9 km (6 mi) north-east of the city centre, off State Highway 30. Air New Zealand provides daily turbo-prop flights between Rotorua and Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch airports. Previously Qantas also operated Boeing 737 aircraft from Christchurch, but upon their departure from domestic flights in New Zealand this was discontinued.

Scenic and chartered flights in both helicopters and float planes are operated by Volcanic Air, who are based on Rotorua's lake front.

From 2009 to 2015 there was also an international link, with direct Sydney to Rotorua flights.

Transport: Rail Rotorua is connected to the rail network by the Rotorua Branch line from Putāruru. Until 2001, passenger trains ran from Auckland to Rotorua via Hamilton daily using Silver Fern railcars, terminating north of the town centre at Koutu (the original station on Amohau Street was closed and relocated to Koutu in 1989). However, owing to poor advertising of the service and the location of the station being a 15-minute walk from the town centre in an industrial area, passenger services stopped in October 2001. Freight services on the line declined over the decades until the nightly freight service stopped in 2000, largely due to a continual move of freight and passengers onto road transport using ever-improving highways in the region. The line is currently disused.

Education Rotorua is home to the central campus of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, which provides a range of certificates, diplomas and a limited number of degree-level programmes. The largest programmes on offer are Te Reo Māori (Māori language), nursing, forestry, business, computing, tourism and hospitality. Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology is the third-largest tertiary education institution in New Zealand, with campuses throughout the Bay of Plenty region.

Media Rotorua has several media organisations, including the Rotorua Daily Post, More FM Rotorua and The Hits Rotorua.