Tourist sites of Rotorua & Taupo

Having spent a lot of our trip trying to avoid the worst of the tourist traps, we spent 24 hours around Taopo and Rotorua racking them up:

1. Mitai Village Maori Experience - our only real cultural experience to date had been the visit to Te Papa museum in Wellington - so we decided to learn more about Maori culture from one of the tribes just outside Rotorua. We booked knowing it would be a hugely commercial experience (they get through c.200 people each evening), so our expectations were pretty low, but we ended up pleasantly suprised. The 3 hours included the arrival of the Mitai tribe by waka (boat)...

...a fantastic cultural performance - including singing, music, dancing, fighting - and of course the Haka...

...a Hangi feast - where the meat and potatoes are steamed in an underground pit for 4 hours - accompanied by an impressive selection of veg and salad...

...and a nature walk to see glow worms and a natural spring
2. Volcanic Hills Winery - whilst this isn't a grape growing region, a couple of years ago a savvy chap set up a vineyard bringing in grapes from all of NZ's wine regions to make wine (lots of tourists + no competition = lots of money!). Despite the commerciality of the venture, it was probably one of our best wine tasting experiences - the owner was hugely passionate, knowledgeable and entertaining, we got to taste grapes and wines at various stages of the production process - and of course sample his full range of wines - all for free (Gerty's wine cellar is still very well stocked for the number of nights we have left in NZ so we didn't even buy a bottle)
3. Huka Falls - apparently NZ's most visited and photographed outdoor attraction - we're not really sure why (Sidebar: we later learned that 90% of tourists to NZ only visit the north island - a travesty! And the shortest tour is just 16 hours, flight lands in Auckland from Shanghai at 0700, tour bus visits Waitomo glow worm caves at 1000, gets to Rotorua for 1300, and back to Auckland for a flight back to Shanghai at 2200!):

4. Thermal springs - there are lots around here - but we had the bonus of finding a campsite where access to their hot springs was included in the price - and made the most of the 7 hot pools all at different temperatures to relax our aching muscles after running & biking
5. Bubbling mud - again lots around - we chose the free (and probably slightly less spectacular) option in a public park in Rotorua

5. Honey farm & shop - we got to taste a range of honeys, meads and mead liquors - the brandy liquor was particularly tasty!

6. Blueberry farm & shop - a bit of a flop - a tiny shop with some distinctly average blueberry chutneys and jams

Whilst we wouldn't classify any of these as "must do" (with the possible exception of the Maori experience), they kept us well entertained for a cloudy and often rainy 24 hours.