Andrew
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North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Rotorua ▷
Mitai Maori Village
The evening was overall fine, and touristy but that's to be expected from such a place.
The 'hangi' could have included some more traditional fair. You can be sure that lamb, chicken, stuffing and potatoes where not the traditional Maori dinner. They were good though.
It was a fun night, but the question has to be asked, is it worth the relatively high price. You can spend that on a better meal in town, but this way you also get 3 hours of entertainment too. Fun night overall.
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North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Rotorua ▷
Polynesian Spa
Rating the adult pools only.
Very nice and clean, especially the pools. This can be difficult due to the spring water.
Good view of the lake. There's 3 series of pools. A large swimming pool, and one set of acidic pool and a set of alkaline pools. They range from 38 to 42c and provide a very enjoyable experience. We were there in the morning and it was quiet and relaxing.
Ok value for the money, there's cheaper and more expensive. If you want free at the park across downtown you can rest your feet in some nice pools. If you want a natural setting Kerosene creek is free and almost perfect. But it's 25km out of town.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Paihia ▷
Cape Reinga Day Tour
This is a bus setup for the younger crowd/backpackers.
Our driver was "Spike" and was a good driver offering some good commentary, and some peace. This let a couple catch up on sleep.
This also meant he takes you to taller sand dune for sand boarding, and also drives fairly quickly around corners, so strap your bags in firmly or they'll slide away on you.
We could buy a sandwich at the first place we stopped for morning tea, or bring your down. Otherwise there's no place to get food till 4pm when you stop for fish and chips.
The tour was good, sand boarding was great. The only request I would have is to take it a bit easy after getting the fish and chips. It's a bit hard to eat when the bus is flying around corners. Or maybe that's just part of the fun?
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North Island ▷ Taupo Region ▷ Taupo ▷
Craters of the Moon
When we went it was $6.
$6 to see anything in Taupo or Rotorua is good! It's not your typical $30 tourist trap. There are vents with steam, there are noisy vents with steam, there's boiling mud, and steam is everywhere. It's a good thermal site. The walk way is well maintained and the road in good shape. It's a short drive from Huka falls. Certainly worth a visit.
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
New Zealand Frontiers
It was an truly enjoyable experience renting our Camper Van from New Zealand Frontiers.
Reading the fine print is important when renting a camper van. Some places take exorbitant depositsw charge insane fees, restrict what highways you can drive on, no unsealed roads, charge mileage fees disguised as taxes, pick up/drop off fees, etc. None of this none sense with New Zealand Frontiers. Calls and questions were answered promptly and rates were clear and obvious. Kenrick Mitchell met our 5am arrival flight, showed us the van and was a real pleasure to work with.
The van was in good shape and performed great for our 2 week 3000km trip around the north island. The complimentary Kruse audio commentary was a real joy. It pointed out details and sights we would have missed and really helped make the driving portion of the trip much more enjoyable. The huge bed was fantastic. The self contained services allowed us to camp at sites with no services for 2 days and see more of New Zealand instead of different holiday parks every night.
New Zealand Frontiers was a first class operation and a real pleasure to work with.