Bubbling over in Rotorua

Mud pools and geysers are a lure for many visitors to Rotorua, but the area has plenty more attractions to entertain families, as SUE HOFFART found.

Two rows of dark-suited Chinese men are howling with laughter as one of their number gallantly leaps on to a gigantic Holstein bull. Headsets transmit a Chinese interpreter's voice while the English-speaking audience learns that the bull is about to bound over three fences, into the paddocks beyond.

Meanwhile, the placid-looking beast thrills younger members of the audience by pooping into the shovel held beneath his generous backside.

This is family entertainment, Rotorua style. Featuring nothing more spectacular than farm animals and rural props, the Rainbow Farm show is an undeniable hit with spectators.

The show, less than 10 minutes' drive from the city centre, is our first stop on a mission to explore Rotorua, one of the nation's most popular tourist draws.

With two days, and an almost-3-year-old in tow, we are out to test-drive the family-friendliness of a city that hosts about 1.3 million tourists a year.

We are impressed. Take the farm show. As with almost every attraction we encounter, visitors must enter through a shop selling outrageously priced woollen jerseys and kiwifruit-flavoured candy. Beyond the commercial storefront, though, lies something genuinely worthwhile.

Visitors are encouraged to leave their tiered perches to help to milk a cow, churn butter, assist with a stock sale and feed lambs. Everyone laughs at the animals' antics and the informative, well-rehearsed patter maintained by the perky hosts.

Their threat to turn the Chinese businessman into a bull rider is, of course, an empty one. It was a credit to the duo's talents that the youngest member of our party was entranced for 50 minutes.

Outside, the menagerie extends to donkeys, llama, pigs, dogs and rabbits.

The $45 fee for two adults and accompanying children is reasonable value, given that it includes entry to Rainbow Springs, reached by way of a tunnel beneath the busy highway. The springs are a series of pools and streams inhabited by fat rainbow trout, set beneath a canopy of native trees and greenery.

Children get a kick out of feeding the fish and bigger birds and they also have a chance to see kiwi and a couple of tuatara.

Our search for food takes us to the tail section of downtown Tutanekai St. This block, called "The Streat", is lined with cafes, restaurants and a good ice-cream parlour. A surprising number of eateries offer children's menus, highchairs and lunchtime specials.

Suitably fortified, we head to the moonscape-like Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland, 20km south of the city. Children can stare at boiling mud and puffs of steam for only a limited period, and close supervision is essential. The paths are clearly marked, though, and most are buggy friendly.

With colourful craters, sulphuric scents and strange underground sounds, Wai-o-tapu is the perfect place to tell tall tales of lurking trolls and prehistoric creatures. Parents can grab a brochure and give a natural-history lesson on geothermal activity, the way cunning birds incubate their eggs in holes in the side of one crater and how one pool came to be the colour of a lime milkshake. Lady Knox Geyser, which erupts at 10.15am daily, reaches heights of up to 21m.

For a more soothing aquatic experience, we return to SH5, and head for Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. The attractive, family-friendly and upgraded pool complex is 6km along a winding country road. There are balls and swim rings and the family changing room has a lockable door.

The facility was developed and built by volunteers from the farming community who wanted to use the scalding, geothermally heated water that bubbles out of the ground.

No chemicals are added to the water, which is changed daily and fed down cascades to cool it enough for comfortable bathing. Macrocarpa-lined private spa pools have balconies overlooking bush and farmland.

We eschew the cafe and 12-berth campground in favour of returning to the city to run off some steam at the fabulous waterfront Volcanic Playground. The climbing frames, swings, tube slides and bridges all boast impressive lake views for which children care not one whit as they scramble over the well-designed play area. And the fun is free.

Day two of the Rotorua kid-test begins sedately with a stroll around the lakefront, over boardwalks, past joggers, swans, boiling mud and hissing thermal areas and home by way of the manicured Government Gardens. After a big buffet breakfast it is time to introduce the toddler to a little culture.

Rotorua Museum inhabits the former curative Great South Seas Spa bath house, a Government-funded foray into tourism that dates back to 1908. Although the grandeur of the building and much of its historical significance are lost on younger children, many will get a kick out of the 15-minute cinema show.

The production, designed to introduce Rotorua's cultural and volcanic history, features plenty of colour, noise and a great special effect where the Earth really does move. The museum provides "discovery trail" sheets and a small prize to encourage school-aged children to explore the exhibitions.

Tots can pull the levers and open drawers on interactive displays, while parents learn about the Tarawera eruption, local Maori and the historical role of the bathhouse.

Given that you can keep a small boy in a quiet place for only so long, the Whakarewarewa Forest seems a perfect way to finish our stay. The forest - known as "The Redwoods" - includes century-old stands of Californian redwood trees and dozens of kilometres of walking and bike trails, as well as a horse-trekking operator.

Entry is free and the visitor centre, with its trail maps, picnic tables and toilet facilities, is a five-minute drive from the city centre.

As it's a tourist town, Rotorua is well-endowed with accommodation options (about 13,000 beds), which can mean some good bargains outside busy times.

Strings of motels line the main street, and there are also camping grounds and youth hostels. Although the international hotels generally cater for the tour-bus crowd, do not discount them. Several offer great bed-and-breakfast deals, weekend specials and family packages.

And check the internet for discounted online booking specials. At the Royal Lakeside Novotel, where we stayed, children sleep in their parents' room free and youngsters are not charged when joining their parents at the impressively extensive breakfast buffet.

There is even a kids' play area in the dining room. What's more, this hotel is directly across the road from the lake, the town's top playground and a string of excellent restaurants and cafes.

We walked to the shops, the museum, the lakefront walking trail and the Polynesian pools and the hotel even provided a picnic lunch for alfresco lakeside dining.

Geyserland

Rotorua Museum

Rainbow Springs

Rotorua

Novotel


* Visitor Information Centre, 1167 Fenton St, ph (07) 348-5179, email: info@tourism.rdc.govt.nz