This is the twenty-fourth in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, as experienced during my November 2019 visit. Today is the eighth of my posts on New Zealand’s North Island.
In my last post I wrote about our visit to Rotorua, situated on the shores of Lake Rotorua and famous for its thermal areas full of natural wonders such as boiling mudpools and geysers. I described our visit to the awe-inspiring Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a very popular tourist attraction.
Rotorua is justly famous for its many attractions, and we visited another of these after lunch on the same day of our visit to Geothermal Wonderland. The Redwoods Treewalk offers a tranquil experience, walking through the forest canopy among the graceful, majestic Redwood trees, along high swinging timber walks suspended from slings secured around the tree trunks.
When you arrive at the Redwoods Treewalk visitor centre you will find that everything here has been constructed to harmonise with the natural environment – even the toilets. They were probably the most beautiful ecologically-inspiring toilets I had ever seen (although in fact we did see some other beautiful toilets in New Zealand – the Hundertwasser public toilets in Kawakawa, which are so exceptional they are on the tourist route as an artistic destination in their own right).
The toilets at the Visitor Centre of the Redwoods Treewalk, Rotorua – harmonising with the natural surroundings
Reaching the start of the treewalk, you climb up to the first platform.
The treewalk is a peaceful, almost meditative experience, once you have acclimatised yourself to the feeling of the swinging timber walks 20 meters above the ground. Informative signs along the route give you plenty to find out, pausing on your journey. You may very well wish to spend some time at each of the platforms, just to regain your feeling of standing on a solid surface once more!
As you make your way along the treewalk you will also see giant lanterns suspended from the trees. These are the Redwoods Nightlights, an art installation by artist and ‘sustainability champion’ David Trubridge, and at night they illuminate the trees and no doubt thrill the hearts of all those who take the walk after dark.
SC Skillman, psychological, suspense, paranormal fiction & non-fiction. My next book, Paranormal Warwickshire, will be published by Amberley Publishing on 15th June 2020 and is available to pre-order now either online, or from the publisher’s website, or from your local bookshop.
scskillman.com 
What an interesting place. Near Roturua?
Yes it’s about a twenty minute drive outside the town. The tour bus picked up tourists from different hotels and accommodation in Rotorua,and drove us out to the Maori Village.