On leaving port you head to Rotorua via Pyes Pa Rd, which was originally a walking track by Maori to and from the coast to Rotorua, this is now a popular highway. On our way you pass some beautiful scenery and take a stop where Mt Tarawera can be pointed out and the destruction by its eruption which caused the Buried Village.
As you arrive into Rotorua a description of its history is given before arriving to our main destination Te Puia, the Maori Cultural Center. From our arrival, clients are given a personalized tour of the old pa site, through the thermal grounds (of boiling mud and geysers), and shown the wood-carving school, flax weaving & the kiwi bird. This is followed by a Maori Welcome onto the marae, before entering a meeting house for a performance by a Maori concert party. After our 2 hours at Te Puia you head for lunch (your own expense) at a small cafe on the lake front.
After lunch, you watch the lake activities before going on to the Government Gardens. The main attractions referred to are: The Rosegardens, The old Bath House (now the Rotorua Museum), The Blue Baths, The Princes Gate Hotel, The Polynesian Spa & Sulphur Point. You then travel past the Redwood Forest, explaining how it came about.
Owing to sailing times, it is normally time to head back to Tauranga, you return by a different route to give an overview of the region.
En route for Tauranga, clients are given the story of the kiwifruit  from how it is grown, picked, pruned, made into a variety of by-products and exported. You stop briefly to view a kiwifruit orchard, Kiwifruit Country, then travel back stopping at beautiful Mt Maunganui waterfront and beach.
If necessary you may reverse the order of the tour to fit in with booking times at Te Puia.
Worry-free Shore Excursion: