A blend of outdoor fish ponds, huge and beautiful rainforest trees that go up for miles and so much…read morelush vegetation. Part of a tour stop, it's a nice place for an hour of peace and reflection. Take some time to take a turn. Never know what kind of fishes you will discover. I watched a duck dive in for some small bites at the bottom of the water during my watch.

As a vegan (which is about animal rights and environment as much as it is about food), I have mixed…read morefeelings about animals in captivity. However, and despite being a commercial run entity, Rainbow Springs does an excellent job of presenting native flaura and fauna, and there are no large animals in captivity (which NZ hasn't had native versions for hundreds of years). We went here just after opening, and it was pretty quiet - just a few people in the park and a few tour groups. We got to walk around the plants and see much of the park before joining the Kiwi encounter - a must see if you care at all about NZ wildlife - and since there were only 6 of us on that tour, it was pretty good - and we got to see junenvile kiwis with their raising program. We did also the water ride, and although fun, I really felt like it could have done a better job of presenting NZ's prehistory, since that is a pretty interesting topic by itself, but it was still fun. We rushed off early morning to see the show at the Agrodome, not having seen everything, but being able to come back until 10pm. When we did come back around 7pm, the place was strangely deserted - it turned out we were the only visitors in the park, and had the run of much of (some of it's closed after dark) for ourselves for the best part of an hour! So we got to revisit some parts we'd skipped, and went on the playground and the flying fox (zip line) all by ourselves. Who else has been to a theme park all alone? All in all, an essential park of the Rotorua experience. Hardly a comprehensive look at NZ's ecology, but interesting neverthless.

This is an animal sanctuary/petting zoo. It is a small but awesome place. The main attraction is…read morethe daily lion feeding. Their goal is to promote healthy mating, a safe and secure place from poachers, and to educate people about the endangered species. After you see the lions being fed, you can walk the grounds as long as you like. You can purchase food to feed a lot of the animals. They have goats, pigs, sheep, deer, ducks, wallabies and the Ngongotaha valley stream runs right through and you can see trout happily swimming the waters. They have some beautiful birds that just love their caretakers. It's a beautiful place. Feeding the animals was fun and they let you pet them and to just touch some of the deer antlers and goat antlers was a first for me. The animals are used to humans but will push each other out of the way to get to you if you have food! They have lots of room to roam and their caretakers truly love these animals. A must see if you are in the Ngongotaha Valley area.

Way back when in 2015 we came to NZ on a bucket list trip and tour included this demo of sheep…read moreshearing and types/breeds of sheep. When in NZ appreciate the sheep as a major industry. We were told of one ranch that 12K sheep. Wool is an important commodity and worth the visit to understand where that nice sweater came from.

Absolutely wonderful tour and show - our tractor driver, Jack, was fun and educational. The show…read morewas brilliant, the variety of sheep, shearing display, delightful children's participation with small animal bottle feeding, adults milking the very patient Holstein Friesian cow and of course the heading and hunt away dogs. Everyone enjoyed the day - will highly recommend to all. RB

The Hamilton Zoo is a favourite outing for our family. It is very affordable, and the animals seem…read morewell treated and live in relatively open spaces on the outskirts of Hamilton's western suburbs. Entry fees are very affordable for individuals and families, and we have a season pass. It is very reasonably priced! The zoo has undergone major renovations over the last five years, expanding well beyond where it was only five years ago (the time of our first visit). It includes an enormous, well-equipped children's playground, an upscale café and dining restaurant. In the near future, there will be a hotel on the premises where guests are welcome to stay and observe the animals after- and before-hours. To get to the zoo, visitors may drive to the facility or choose to take the city bus. The city bus is very convenient, since it leaves from the Hamilton CBD and arrives directly outside the front entrance to the zoo. A highlight for the kids include the tigers, ostriches, American buffalo, and, of course, giraffes. Also, they certainly like to use the slides located near the chimpanzee enclosure.

Not the largest zoo but what they lack in variety, they definitely make up in quality. There are…read moresome definite gems here like an extremely active red panda, ring-tailed lemurs that you can play with, the cutest bobcat and beautiful tigers. My boyfriend and I definitely had a lovely time here and I could be found squealing like a child about the cuteness of the animals. The zoo itself is not suffocating and the enclosures are well-maintained and adequately-sized to give the animals space to play in. There is also a playground for kids and lots of interactive experiences. There are also a lot of talks given by the zoo staff about the different animals which were informative and interesting. If I lived in Hamilton, I would definitely visit again.

We happened across this place on our way back to Rotorua from the Waitomo Glowworm tour, and we had…read moresome time to kill so we decided to visit. And I'm glad we did! At first when we entered the darkened kiwi hut we had no luck seeing the birds, but after a while and with some patience, we were able to spot them in their habitat! It was pretty neat to see them poking around in the dirt, so cute! One of the staff also did a short talk where she gave us some interesting facts and info about kiwis, so it was a fun, informative trip. There are a handful of other enclosures on the grounds with different types of birds to see so it was a nice way to spend a couple hours in the afternoon.

If you want to see a kiwi, you can here, but with a caveat…read more Prepare for a challenge to spot one. It's not like other zoos where you just walk up to a display and you see the animal just doing its thing. Kiwis are nocturnal creatures, so you have to enter a dark viewing area and look through the glass in a habitat and hope they aren't hiding the whole time. The staff will help you if you're having a hard time spotting one. If you were looking to cuddle with a kiwi, this is not place for you. Since it's located about a 15 minute drive from the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, you can do both activities on the same day.