Mini Guide to New Zealand

Guilherme Ribeiro | March 7, 2018

Rotorua

Rotorua is located at the center of the North Island, just 230 km away from Auckland. It’s one of the places where travelers can have first-hand experience with geothermal activity — the city has a distinct smell of sulfur because of that.

A famous site is the Whakarewarewa, where visitors can walk around 500 bubbling mud pools and see 65 geysers. The main attraction is the Pohutu Geyser, which spurts up as high as 30 meters, roughly 20 times per day.

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Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park is a UNESCO Heritage Site covering an area of 786 square meters. It’s one of New Zealand’s oldest national parks and has three active volcanic mountains. Therefore, the landscape is stunning — as if you were walking on the Moon.

Mount Ngauruhoe was the inspiration for Peter Jackson when he created Mount Doom for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It’s also famous for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, considered one of the best hikes in the world. It takes around eight hours to complete and travelers walk past beautiful blue lakes along the way.

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