The Perfect Girls Weekend

Redwoods Treewalk Night-Time Walk

I was lucky enough to recently go away to Rotorua for a Girls long weekend. We left on Friday morning and returned on Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure.

Our first stop was in Hamilton for lunch, which was at the Punnet Eatery in Tamahere. There’s a great mix of all day menu items, cakes, and specialty items. I had a delicious crispy buttermilk chicken & bacon burger served with hand-cut agria chips. Attached to the Punnet Eatery is The Country Providore which is a fabulous gift shop stocking homeware, pantry items, children’s clothing and fresh fruit ice-cream.

Checking into Jet Park Hotel Rotorua, we had booked a Family Suite and interconnecting Standard Double Room. This was perfect for us as it allowed us to have two bathrooms and space to spread out.  It also meant that the interconnecting door could be shut to block out the snorers amongst us.  After unpacking we headed off to the nearby Mr Yakitori for dinner. Mr Yakitori is a very small dining bar which serves flame-grilled skewers, Japanese pancakes, Sake and beer.

After dinner, we had been given a complimentary pass to experience The Secret Spot Hot Tubs. All I can say is wow – if you want to relax I would definitely recommend visiting this place. On arrival, you pick your beverage (they also serve beer or cider) which they deliver to your hot tub along with bottles of water in a flax kete bag. They supply amazing cooler cups which keeps your beverage cold and imitation enamel mugs. There are just 12 Cedar Tubs so bookings are essential, however as the tubs are spread out it doesn’t feel like the place is busy as you are not on top of each other.  The plants are amazing and feel like they have been their forever. At night the stars are lovely to look at and if you get too hot you can stand up in the tub to cool off before dunking back in again. I would recommend taking or hiring a bathrobe as you do have walk to the tubs and it can be cold after you have spent 45 minutes being submerged. Definite highlight of the trip and all the girls declared they would be back with their other halves.

We had a great nights sleep and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go. Continental breakfast is included in the accommodation price so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of cereal, toast, pastries, yoghurt, fruits, cheese and crackers. There’s also juice, tea & coffee. Once breakfast was finished there was a small amount of shopping to be done so we walked over the road to the mall, everything is very conveniently located. After visiting some specialty shops and buying more than intended it was a quick trip back to the hotel to drop our shopping off and collect our togs for our next adventure. Next stop was the 1 hour massage that we had booked. There are lots of places to get massages done but as there were 4 girls we had to find somewhere that could fit us all in, so we ended up going to Wai Ora Spa Resort. Whilst the first two enjoyed their massages in the couples room, the other two took advantage of the spa and steam room. The massage was lovely, using beautiful products that stimulated the senses and made you really relax. The weighted eye mask kept you chilled and calm so no small talk was needed.

Driving back to the hotel we did a detour to the Redwoods Treewalk Forest and then decided to proceed with the daytime walk. They are offering a two for one deal where you pay for a day visit and get the night-time walk for free. I wasn’t sure how I would go as I have a phobia of heights but it was lovely and safe. There are walkways suspended between the trees and at each end of the walkway there are platforms where you can relax or read the information plackets. The entire walk is 700 metres long and you start off at 9 metres and gradually climb up to 20 metres, but you don’t notice you are that high as it still feels the same as when you started. 

Once we had finished the daytime walk we headed off for dinner at Eat Street. There are lots of lovely eateries to choose from and we were faced with a difficult decision. The lovely hostess at Wholly Smoked lured us in with talk of the slow ‘n’ low cooked ribs and the use of charcoal for the cooking. The Kumara wedges were the best we’ve ever had and there was a fight about who got to eat the last ones. Of course, after dinner how can you not go to Lady Janes for an ice-cream. It was freezing cold and we were eating ice-cream but it was delicious and worth it.

The day was not quite over yet as we wanted to go back to Redwoods and complete the night-time walk.  It was a completely different experience. The trees are all lit up from green waving lights, looking like a scene out of Avatar through to designer lanterns. The bridges were also lit up so you could see where you were going. Once you had finished the tree walk there was also special holograms of a kiwi, weta and worm. Great for the kids to watch, learn and discover. I noticed quite a few kids were trying to squash the worm which was quite funny as it kept disappearing and then popping back up again.

Well and truly satisfied with the days events we looked forward to crawling back into our comfortable beds and having another great nights sleep. After enjoying another great breakfast, packing up our bags and checking out we headed off to the very small farmers market. Although small the girls picked up a baby shower present and some handmade pottery mugs and a pot plant holder. We decided to stop at Tirau on the way home and have a look at the shops before heading home, relaxed, rejuvenated and satisfied.