Rotorua and the East Coast

Rotorua and the East Coast Travel Guide

Rotorua, central North Island's major city and a longtime Maori hub, has been a tourist magnet since the 19th century, when Europeans first heard of the healing powers of local hot springs. All around the town you'll find surreal wonders that include limestone caverns, volcanic wastelands, steaming geysers, and bubbling, hissing ponds.

South of Rotorua lies Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake and the geographical bull's-eye of the North Island. From the lake, you'll have a clear shot at Ruapehu, the island's tallest peak and a top ski area, and its symmetrically cone-shaped neighbor, Ngauruhoe. Ruapehu dominates the Tongariro National Park, a haunting landscape of craters, volcanoes, and lava flows that ran with molten rock as recently as 1988. As part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" (a zone that's earthquake- and volcanic eruption-prone), the area's thermal features remain an ever-present hazard -- and a thrilling attraction.

Southeast of Lake Taupo, on the shores of Hawke Bay, you'll find a fabulous architectural anomaly: the town of Napier, a time capsule of colorful art deco architecture. The Hawke's Bay countryside is thick with vineyards, as this is one of the country's major wine producing areas.

To get truly off the beaten path, head to isolated Eastland, the thick thumb of land that's east of Rotorua. Gisborne, where Captain James Cook first landed in New Zealand, is the area's largest town. Above it juts the largely agricultural East Cape, a sparsely populated area ringed with stunning beaches, while inland lies the haunting beauty of the Te Urewera National Park.