This ended up being a day focused mostly on the kids.
We started the morning with a full English breakfast prepared by our hosts. The food was excellent, and we spent quite a while chatting with them before heading out. We left a little later than planned, but still arrived at Skyline Rotorua with plenty of time for our first activity.
Luge! Luge! Luge!
Let me start by saying that I am afraid of heights. Why I booked not one but two height-related activities for this day remains a mystery, even to me.
Our first stop was the luge. We bought a family pass that included three rides each because, well, luge sounded fun... and it absolutely was. The problem, at least for me, was that every trip downhill had to be followed by a trip back uphill.
The first ascent was in the Skyline gondola. After that, we used the chairlift to return to the top after each luge run. I am convinced that I aged three years every time I sat on one of those chairlifts. Still, the views were fantastic, and the fresh air helped.
Our younger son was initially nervous when he saw the luge track and asked if he could ride with one of the adults. At the last moment, however, courage won out and he decided to go on his own. He loved it. Even when we started in the easiest track, we let him lead the way, and he moved up to more complex (and longer) tracks every run.
By the time he reached the bottom, all traces of fear had disappeared. He couldn't wait to get back to the top and do it again. If it had been up to him, we would have spent the entire day riding the luge.
Living Māori Village
After Skyline, we drove to Whakarewarewa, the Living Māori Village. We arrived just in time for the last guided tour of the day, which turned out to be one of the most insightful cultural experiences of the trip.
One thing that initially surprised me was that the houses looked completely modern. Part of me had expected something more "traditional," but of course that would make little sense. People live there. Why wouldn't they want electricity, modern appliances, and all the conveniences of modern life?
What makes the village unique is not that it is frozen in the past, but that many aspects of daily life are still closely tied to the area's geothermal activity. Natural steam vents are used for cooking, geothermal pools serve as communal baths, and many traditional practices continue alongside modernity. Because it is an active community, the village closes relatively early to visitors so residents can go about their daily routines.
The tour took us through different parts of the village and the vents (that sulphur smell will alway be associated with New Zealand for me), and we got to eat some geothermally-cooked corn before ending at a viewpoint overlooking P?hutu Geyser, the largest active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere.
Unfortunately, despite erupting around twenty times a day, it chose not to perform while we were there. As the guide said "We cannot control Mother Nature."
Even without seeing an eruption, the visit was fascinating. Our guide was a resident of the village and shared stories about Māori culture, local traditions, and what it is actually like to live in a geothermal community. The personal perspective made the experience much more interesting than a typical museum-style tour.
It had less pizzazz than Mitai Māori Village, but everything felt more authentic and real... mainly because it was.
Redwoods Treewalk at Night and Glowworms
After leaving Whakarewarewa, the day still wasn't over. I had one more activity planned for the kids —and another one that made me question my own decision-making: The Redwoods Treewalk.
The walk stretches for about 700 meters (nearly half a mile) through the forest canopy, with suspension bridges connecting giant redwood trees roughly 20 meters (65 feet) above the ground. We scheduled our visit for the evening and chose the night experience instead of the daytime one.
I have absolutely no regrets about that decision.
Even with my fear of heights, I had no trouble completing the walk and genuinely enjoyed it. At night, the entire experience became something closer to an art installation than a nature walk. Decorative lanterns, illuminated sculptures, and lighting effects transformed the forest into something almost magical.
As an optional add-on, we also booked the glowworm experience.
The attraction is essentially an artificial cave built within the park where glowworms are being cultivated. On paper, it sounded a little gimmicky compared to seeing them in natural caves as the previous day, but it was probably our last chance to see glowworms, so we went with it. And it was surprisingly good.
The setting may have been artificial, but the glowworms themselves were very real... and there were a lot of them! In fact, we probably got closer to them there than in some of the caves we had visited in Waitomo.
One fun thing was that some glowworms had escaped the artificial habitat and started colonizing areas outside the original enclosure. I guess that, as Jeff Goldblum's character famously says in Jurassic Park, life finds a way.
The Treewalk was our final activity of the day. I wanted to visit Kuirau Park afterward, but by then the kids were exhausted. Instead, we returned to the bed and breakfast, relaxed for the evening, and got some much-needed rest before the next day's adventures.
Our Glowworms Experience
After seeing glowworms in so many different settings over the past few days (caves, forests, rivers, and even an artificial habitat), we had some perspective to compare them.
Each place offered something unique, and together they gave us a surprisingly complete picture of how glowworms live, behave, and shine. Here's our comparison of the 5 places where we show glowworms (in the order we saw them):
Ruakuri Bush Walk (Night)
- Glowworm Density: Low-Medium.
- Viewing distance: Close but scattered (natural and unpredictable).
- Photography: Allowed.
- Experience type: Free self-guided forest walk in near-darkness.
- Best for: Adventurous families, budget travelers, people wanting a natural setting.
Ruakuri Cave
- Glowworm Density: Medium.
- Viewing distance: Very close (group size varies depending on tour).
- Photography: Allowed.
- Experience type: Guided walking tour through large chambers.
- Best for: Families, photography lovers, people who want a quieter, more educational experience.
Waitomo Glowworm Cave
- Glowworm Density: Very high.
- Viewing distance: Moderate (viewed from a boat with 20-25 people).
- Photography: Not allowed.
- Experience type: Large-group boat ride under a "glowworm sky."
- Best for: First-timers, people wanting the iconic Waitomo experience.
Mitai Māori Village
- Glowworm Density: Low.
- Viewing distance: Moderate (glowworms visible along the path).
- Photography: Not allowed.
- Experience type: Cultural performance + h?ng? dinner with a short glowworm viewing.
- Best for: Visitors wanting culture first, glowworms second.
Redwoods Treewalk (Artificial Habitat)
- Glowworm Density: High-Very high (inside the enclosure).
- Viewing distance: Very close (controlled environment).
- Photography: Allowed.
- Experience type: Short indoor exhibit + nighttime forest walk. Groups of max 15 people.
- Best for: Kids, evening activities, anyone wanting a guaranteed close-up look of the glowworms.
When we visited Ruakuri Cave, we were told that making some noise make the glowworms glow brighter (as they may think there's prey close by). I wish I had known that when we went to the Ruakuri Bush Walk the previous night. Maybe we would have seen more glowworms that way.
Also, I was surprised at how the Redwoods Treewalk artificial glowworm experience seemed to have more didactic content explaining the glowworms life cycle and their habitat.
Kids' Verdict
- Score: 10/10
- Favorite Activity: Luge! (And the breakfast!)
- Biggest Surprise:We got to eat something cooked geothermally
- Complaint of the Day: We didn't get to see the geyser at the Living Village. Everything smelled of rotten eggs
- Driving Time: Good. Not much driving
Day 4 was one of the most varied days of the trip. A perfect blend of adrenaline, culture, nature, and nighttime magic. It quickly became the kids' favorite day; they talked about it for weeks, especially the luge rides.
Continue to Day 5: Geothermal Activity, Māori Culture, Kiwi Birds! ...and a real earthquake?
...Or read about Day 3: Waitomo Caves and Maori Culture.
...Or return to the main guide.