🇳🇿 North Island Adventure | Rotorua’s Māori Tales & Thrills

🚗 Drove from Taupō to Rotorua (though tiny Taupō stole my heart more!). ♨️ Free Hot Pools Near Wai-O-Tapu 📍 Hot 'n' Cold / Kerosene Creek 🌉 Bridge-side bliss! Where icy streams meet toasty springs. Missed Wai-O-Tapu? The free mud pool (boiling like a witch’s cauldron!) is wild too! 🏡 The Living Māori Village ($29 on BookMe) ⏳ 1hr tour with a local guide—his grandparents’ village! 🔥 Geothermal magic: • Cooking eggs/veggies in hot springs • Steam-box meat (falls off the bone!) • Natural communal baths 🌏 Talk about living with the land! 🌲 Redwood Forest (FREE!) 🍁 Golden hour = unreal autumn hues! 🚶 Trails from 30min to 8hrs—breathe that crisp forest air. Night Treewalk ($42): Suspended bridges + "fake firefly" lights = romantic AF under the stars! ♀️ MUST-DO: Kaituna River Rafting ($59!) 🌊 3 waterfalls (the last one = heart-in-mouth!). 🛶 You paddle! Front seat = max adrenaline. 📸 Photo package: $40 (split with mates). Palm-filled canyons + cascades—pure magic! 🌙 Thursday Night Market (Lake Rotorua) 🍢 Grab a bite before your bus—yum overload! #NZAdventure #RotoruaDiaries #MāoriCulture #WhiteWaterRafting #RedwoodMagic