Rotorua City & Lakes Tour

Discover Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand on a unique 90 minute sightseeing adventure, with Rotorua Duck Tours, onboard our WWII amphibious vehicle able to travel on land and water! Tours depart 6 times per day from the Rotorua I-site Fenton St.

This fascinating 90 minute journey of discovery begins in town where Rotorua’s rich history unfolds before you as we tour local landmarks and share stories and legends of the past. City highlights include natural geothermal features such as Lake Rotorua, Mokoia Island, Geothermal Sulphur Point and cultural features such as Government Gardens, The Museum and Blue Baths. We then venture out to a spectacular lakes area for “Splashdown” entry onto Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) before heading to Lake Okareka, a small lakeside community known for its abundant bird life and million dollar homes, and where the ducks elevation affords magnificent views of Mt Tarawera. Your conductor will tell you of the areas volcanic past and the natural processes that have formed the area. Your homeward leg takes you past Rotorua’s burgeoning Te Whakarewarewa Forest, back to the sulphurous aroma of Rotorua. You’ll learn about the history of Rotorua, view fabulous scenery and have great fun along the way.

Finish the tour with a talk from Rotorua Duck Tours Director about the History of the Company and the many factors that have contributed to its success. Topics to talk about are location, attractions, development, visitors, promotion, monitoring and handling change. 

Achievement Objectives from Geography, History, Education for Sustainability and Science include:

• Identify some important natural and cultural features of the landscape.          
• Understand how specific geographical features were formed such as volcanic and geo thermal features.         
• Understand the natural and cultural processes that have shaped the environment.         
• Understand how people interact with the natural environment and the consequences of such interactions for people and the environment.         
• Understand how people’s values and perceptions influence decision making   processes such as Tourism development and identify how change has occurred in Tourism Development.

• Identify major events and people in Rotorua's history.          
• Understand Maori migration settlement and life in the Rotorua region. Education for Sustainability         
• Evaluate measures that have been taken to sustain natural resources and the effect on the sustainability of these environments. 

• Investigate external and internal processes that have shape and change the surface features of New Zealand         
• Develop an understanding of the causes of natural hazards and their interactions with human activity on Earth.