South Island

For a peaceful stop between Rotorua and Te Urewera National Park, check out Murupara Motor Camp. Half holiday park and half motor lodge (motel), Murupara Motor Camp has a variety of accommodations for guests. Located in a small town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand, the motor camp offers lodging that is both removed from busy tourist centers and close to lots of fun activities, including the geothermal attractions south of Rotorua. ...Read more.

Impressive hydrothermal features surround Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand. Kerosene Creek is one of the easiest to visit, and it's also free. After a brief walk, hop in a steaming stream and soak in a pool below a short waterfall. They don't call it Kerosene Creek for nothing, but you can forgive the harsh small as you relax in this refreshing hot pool. ...Read more.

Get ready for a short, colorful walk at Rainbow Mountain Scenic Reserve outside of Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand. The mountain, which the Māori call Maungakakaramea (mountain of colored earth), has steep red and white cliffs above a crater filled with turquoise water. Crater Lake Walk reaches a lookout above Crater Lake for a 1-kilometer (0. ...Read more.

If you ever read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or watched the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, you probably wished that the peaceful, bucolic land of the hobbits was a real place. As it turns, the Shire exists and you can go there! At the Hobbiton Movie Set, you can stroll up to Bag End, drink like a hobbit at the Green Dragon Inn, and walk past hobbit hole after colorful hobbit hole. ...Read more.

Kakepuku Track offers a farm-to-summit trek in Kakepuku Mountain Historic Reserve. The track to the summit of Kakepuku Mountain is 8 kilometers (5 miles) round trip with 407 meters (1,335 feet) of elevation change. A lookout tower atop the 449-meter summit garners round-the-compass views above the treetops. A wooden viewing platform and benches along the track provide spots to relax and look out over the mountain's current surroundings, while panels placed at pa sites around the summit allow visitors to appreciate the Māori past. ...Read more.