A journey through Hamurana Springs and The Hidden Valley (Orakei Korako) | NEW ZEALAND

When we heard from two of our viewers that there was a place which rivalled the beauty of Blue Spring Putaruru with its own natural blue spring, and a hidden valley that gave off serious Jurassic Park vibes, we knew that we absolutely had to go check both places out for ourselves!

Hamurana Springs is a nature reserve that's only about 15 mins drive from Rotorua. Orakei Korako (The Hidden Valley) is situated between Taupo and Rotorua so we booked ourselves a one night stay in Rotorua in order to check out both places.

Unfortunately after a 3 hour drive from Auckland, we were faced with the nature reserve being closed due to high winds! We didn't want to waste the sunny weather though so we did a little walk along Lake Rotorua then eventually after some Googling, we found another scenic reserve called Rainbow Mountain - Crater Lake that we thought might be nice to visit.

The crater lake is a short 15 minute, easy walk to see the pretty baby blue water with the backdrop of Rainbow Mountain surrounding it.

TIP: be sure to enter "Rainbow Mountain Scenic Reserve Carpark" into your Google Maps or GPS instead of just "Rainbow Mountain Scenic Reserve" to save yourself from getting lost like we did.

Without much time left in the day, we decided to head over to our Airbnb accommodation in Rotorua. When we arrived we found out that our host Sonia actually runs a cattery from her home so we got to meet a couple of cute cats too. Her Airbnb is clean, comfy and located very near the Redwoods Forest.

Sonia's Airbnb
https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/16442338

After a good night's sleep, we headed back out to Hamurana Springs the next morning. Thankfully we were very lucky and it was opened this time!

It's a lovely scenic walk, filled with lots of birds especially ducks and swans. The water is very clear and has intriguing and various shades of blue just like Blue Spring Putaruru. However some differences between Hamurana Springs and Blue Spring is that at Hamurana you can see "dancing sands" and you also have a redwood tree grove at the start.

Hamurana Springs
Address: 773 Hamurana Road, Hamurana, Rotorua 3072
Opening Hours: we recommend calling up beforehand and/or checking out their Facebook page for updates and any closures to avoid disappointment as the reserve does close if the wind is too strong:   / hamuranaspringsnature  

Determined to also still visit Orakei Korako in the few hours we had left, we made a super quick stop to grab a bite to eat at Wheatsheaf Bakery before zipping over to The Hidden Valley.

Wheatsheaf Bakery
Address: 200, Ngongotaha, Rotorua 3010
Hours: Mon–Sat 4am–3pm. Closed Sundays.

The Hidden Valley is a geothermal park. You take a short ferry ride across to it from the visitor centre and you're then left to go explore the whole area on your own. The place is filled with naturally colourful soil and hot pools. Steam billows from the land. Geysers shoot hot water and there's an awesome looped walking track. It definitely had some lost in time, Jurassic vibes. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to make it back before the last ferry ride of the day!

Orakei Korako
Address: 494 Orakei Korako Road, Taupo 3083
Hours: Mon–Sun 8am–4:30pm

#hamurana #hamuranasprings #orakeikorako #hiddenvalley #newzealand

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VLOG DATE: 17 Sep 2020
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