Maori Carving at its Best

Carving, Ohinemutu, Rotorua. 2007. Ajr

Thinking of Rotorua yesterday (when I wrote, below, about Treetops Lodge), I was prompted to think of another of my favourite Rotorua places - Ohinemutu Maori Village. It's home to the historic Tamatekapua meeting house (above), the very beautiful St Faith's Church and a whole lot of stunning Maori carving, as illustrated in the exquiste and gigantic 'totem' here. What makes this place even more fascinating, is that the village sits right on the edge of Lake Rotorua amid a flurry of natural, steaming, hissing thermal vents. You can wander through the tight little network of narrow streets and see steaming rising from lawns, pavements and roadsides.

Steaming Successes

Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, 2007. Ajr

I was just putting these photographs of some of Rotorua’s prettiest geothermal attractions together when, in the synchronititous nature of things, I received a press release from Destination Tourism Rotorua Marketing telling me about the launch of their stand-alone Spanish language website – the fourth in their foreign language sites after the launch of their Chinese, Japanese and Korean sites in 2007. They’re planning a French site for later this year. In the meantime, one of their major tourist attractions – and one of my all-time favourites - Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, is still busy doing its thing. The russet-edged Champagne Pool (bottom right) is probably one of the most photographed volcanic attractions in the world but I like the brilliant yellow of the sulphur circles and the hissing, steaming fuss that the Lady Knox Geyser makes. If you’re a keen photographer, early morning is the best time to get there, just as the sun is coming through the trees. You can get some crazy ethereal lighting effects as the light hits the steam. www.rotoruanz.com www.geyserland.co.nz