A Bookish Day Out in Rotorua
The fabulous McLeods Booksellers, Rotorua
Rotorua is known as one of the adventure capitals of New Zealand. You can try your hand (or risk your limbs dependent on your POV) at luging, sky-diving and zorbing. There are also multiple sites of cultural significance and geothermal interest. Rotorua is a place that gently steams in the morning sunlight. Walking through Kuirau Park, off Ranolf Street, you skirt past bubbling mud pools and hissing steam vents. There are free town footbaths here too if you fancy stopping and steeping your feet in the mineral waters, but do keep to the marked paths. Since 1941, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have used the healing powers of the water, initially for returned servicemen and then for rheumatological conditions. However, these waiariki have been used for centuries by Māori for both bathing and healing. You can bathe in the waters at the Polynesian Spa and if you want to visit hot pools only accessible by boat, kayak or plane then Lake Rotoiti Hot Pools are a must.
There are a couple of special bookish spots in Rotorua. McLeods Booksellers is now on Pukuatua Street, but started life in 1896 as A. T. Coates Ltd.. It is one of my favourite bookshops in New Zealand and I trust their “staff picks” section implicitly. They have a great selection of books in Te Reo for both adults and kids and a wonderful range of contemporary fiction. The last time I was there I bought some of the Moomin Collectors’ Editions and eyed-up a special edition of Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane. If you’re in the market for second-hand books, Atlantis Books are on Eruera Street. Two floors of books and an atmosphere conducive to browsing, there are treasures to be found here. I spent rather a long time in the classic children’s fiction section!
Atlantis Books, Rotorua. There is a sister bookshop in Tokoroa
If you want to interrupt your book-shopping for coffee, then a Rotorua institution is the Fat Dog Cafe on Arawa Street. Home to the most ginormous date scones and mighty breakfasts, this is a fab refuelling stop before moving on to your next adventure. My most recent favourite is The Terrace Kitchen. Open for all-day dining Wed-Sun from 8am to late (check their website for seasonal opening hours) I had some fabulous paneer flatbreads here and a fresh ginger mocktail. If I’d been there a little later in the day, I would have gone for one of their signature gin cocktails, maybe a Bitter and Twisted!
A special place on the edge of Rotorua is the Whakarewarewa Forest also known as the Redwoods. In 1901 the first redwoods were planted here and now you can walk, run, bike or ride a horse on trails through the trees. If you want a birds-eye view then there is an elevated tree-tops walk which is illuminated at night to make the experience even more magical. Having recently heard of “forest bathing” this is one place that, every time I visit, I come away feeling a little better about the world.
Rotorua city is situated on the side of Lake Rotorua, but there are multiple lakes and rivers to enjoy in the area. I once spent a summer’s afternoon swimming off the beach at Lake Ōkāreka which is only 15 minutes drive from Rotorua. There’s a large playground, showers and facilities there for changing. It’s a perfect spot to picnic under the trees and feels a world away from the centre of the city. You could even find a shady spot to sit a read one of your new books.