Once the main Maori settlement on Lake Rotorua. St Faith's Anglican Church has a unique sandblasted window, set so that Christ, dressed as a Maori chieftain, appears to be walking on the waters of the lake. The exterior is English Tudor and the interior decorated with Maori carvings and tukutuku woven panels. Gilbert Mair, an European officer admitted as an honorary chieftain of the Arawa tribe, is buried here. Most will also smoke your catch for you, and some provide mounting of trophies.
All equipment is available locally.
Trout is not available commercially, and the only way to eat it is to catch it. A licence is necessary, and can be obtained from sporting goods shops or fishing guides. Five minutes from the city centre, the mountain towers 757 metres above the city, with unmatched views of city, lakes and the surrounding landscape. Popularly known as 'Whaka', this is one of the most famous of Rotorua's thermal areas, with the country's largest geyser, Pohutu, playing to about 31m, the Prince of Wales' Feathers geyser, boiling pools, boiling mud pools and silica terraces. At the lower entrance to the thermal reserve is the village of the Tuhorangi sub-tribe of the Arawa, who were displaced by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886.