Discover Waitomo Caves and Rotorua (Overnight Tour from Auckland)

Enjoy a two day independent coach tour to witness the underground spectacle of Waitomo Caves and the highlights of the thermal wonderland that is Rotorua.

Highlights include an underground boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto, a visit to an authentic Maori marae for a hangi (feast) and concert and overnight at your choice of accommodation in Rotorua.

Your second day includes entry to a trout and wildlife sanctuary, an entertaining farm show and a visit to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and Maori Arts and Crafts Institute to view mighty geysers and boiling mud pools. Return to Auckland on the afternoon of Day 2 and transfer back to your Auckland hotel.

Schedule Details Departs: Daily Departure Point: Discover New Zealand Travel Centre, 180 Quay Street, Auckland (opposite the Ferry Building) and selected central city hotels Departure Time: 8:00am, hotel pick ups start prior to this time Return details: Tour concludes in Auckland on Day 2, at approximately 6:15pm Hotel Pickup: Hotel pick up is available from all Auckland centrally located hotels.
Please advise your full hotel name and address at time of booking. Itinerary: Day 1: Auckland / Waitomo Caves / Rotorua (L, D)

Depart Auckland and travel south through the rich farmland of the Waikato region. Stop for a short morning tea break in the historic township of Rangiriri, once the site of a Maori fortification where fierce land battles were fought between the Maori and British troops. From here, continue on through the 'Bridge City' of Hamilton. Then onto Waitomo, where the tour stops for a buffet lunch at the fantastic new facilities at the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Enjoy your lunch as you sit and relax amongst the trees in the natural setting outside the caves.

After lunch, begin your guided tour through the long galleries and lofty chambers to view stalactites formed over thousands of years by the constant dripping of water. Your tour will end with a boat ride through the glowworm grotto that is illuminated by thousands of tiny lights emitted by the glowworms, suspended from the cave ceiling.

Reboard your coach and continue on to Rotorua. On the way to Rotorua, follow the Waikato River to the Karapiro Dam on Lake Karapiro for a short refreshment break. As you near Rotorua, your coach enters the Fitzgerald glade, a section of the highway where the native bush grows right up to the roadside and the trees form a canopy overhead like a tunnel. The journey finally takes you up over the Mamaku Saddle and descends into the city of Rotorua.

On arrival into Rotorua, you will be dropped off at your accommodation for this evening. Tonight, experience a traditional Maori Hangi (feast) and Concert at an authentic Maori marae. On route to the marae, your coach turns imaginatively into a canoe, a chief is selected, a song learnt and your guide informs you of the night's events. A very sacred performance takes place upon arrival at the marae known as the Wero (challenge), followed by the Karanga (call), speeches and Hongi (greeting). Let the local tribes people walk you through time to learn of the pride of the Maori, "their story" through song and dance. See, learn and taste food being prepared and cooked the ancient way as the night unfolds to a relaxed, informal, friendly and fun atmosphere of feasting and entertainment.

Overnight Accommodation: Kingsgate Hotel, Rotorua

Day 2: Rotorua / Auckland

Begin today with sightseeing of some of Rotorua's top attractions. Visit Paradise Valley Springs, a superbly presented but natural wildlife park, featuring New Zealand's wild trout, wild animals and birdlife, set amongst native bush and ferns with many sparkling pools, springs and a beautiful wetland for New Zealand's water birds. In their spawning stream, you may hand feed wild Rainbow and Brown Trout. Hundreds more swim in numerous fresh water springs, one of which has an underwater viewer while another holds large wild eels.

Next stop this morning is the renowned Agrodome Sheep Show, featuring nineteen breeds of sheep, each represented by a champion ram. Experience an exciting sheep auction with audience participation. Watch a demonstration by Huntaway dogs, plus our famous "Duck" dog, dog trial with three sheep and a 'Strong Eye' dog. View a sheep shearing demonstration by a top shearer. There is also an opportunity to hand milk a cow on stage, or feed baby lambs. The New Zealand Agrodome is a 160 hectare working sheep and cattle farm with 1200 sheep and 120 beef cattle and gives visitors a real hands-on, live experience of farming and a total interaction with sheep, goats, cattle, deer and baby lambs.

Finally, visit the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. At Whakarewarewa, you have the opportunity to see silica terraces, bubbling mud pools and unique geothermal vegetation. Exploding from the ground up to 30 meters (100 feet) high is the world famous Pohutu Geyser - an awesome display of mother nature's power. Ten to twenty times a day it bursts into life and it has been a visitor attraction since the early 1900's. At the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, you can watch young Maori at work, learning the skills of Maori arts and crafts. Experienced sculptors and carvers pass on their knowledge to young students at daily workshops and if you feel like joining in, you can even try your hand at weaving.

This afternoon, journey back to Auckland by regular service coach (tour commentary not included). Leaving Rotorua, head over the Mamaku volcanic plateau before traveling through Mercer, Huntly and Hamilton. On arrival in Auckland, you are met at Skycity and transferred to your central city accommodation.

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