After seeing the more commercial side of the Whakarewarewa valley at Te Puia the day before it was really interesting to see and learn more of the cultural importance of the geothermal taonga for those still living in the village the next day. Our guide was informative and fun. Loved the sweetcorn cooked in the thermal spring as part of the tour. Visitors can take pride in tour fees helping towards scholarships for village locals to take up education options.

We had the full-day pass and were able to see everything. It is already very touristy, but since people really live in the village and they guide the tourists, it seems authentic. However, the organisation was chaotic! We were supposed to see the demonstration first and then be picked up for the guided tour. But that was not the case. Nobody knew about it either. When we found a staff member after half an hour, she grumbled at us that we were too late and that the tour would start somewhere else. Then she shooed us away. At the ticket office they told us we had waited at the right place and booked the next tour for us. When we arrived at the right place again, we were again nagged to go somewhere else. We had to resist. When the tour started, we were in a group of 45 people - all very very old cruise tourists. But the tour was very informative and the staff at least nice. The walk through the geothermally active landscape was also good and you get a good view of the geysers. But I don’t understand why some of the staff members are so unfriendly.

We bought a day pass and booked to do the guided tour and the cultural performance. Later we explored the geothermal trails. We enjoyed all 3 experiences. The Maori performers were excellent, as was our guide for the tour. I had visited many years ago, and I was disappointed at the now, very limited viewing of the geysers. There used to be a Cafe opposite which afforded excellent views of the geysers. We had planned to have a hot meal for lunch, but food choices at the village were very limited, so this was disappointing.