Rotorua is a popular holiday destination for many New Zealanders and overseas visitors because of its Maori culture, beautiful scenery, hot pools, and attractions for tourists and sports people. Rotorua is about three hours’ drive south-east of Auckland.  From Wellington it is five hours north. From overseas, it is easiest to fly to Auckland and to go by car or bus to Rotorua. However, Air New Zealand also has direct flights to Rotorua from Sydney and from various New Zealand cities. 

Rotorua is a charming town built beside a large lake. It is surrounded by many forests good for walking and biking. Information about Rotorua is available in Esperanto on Wikipedia. The official Rotorua tourism website www.rotoruanz.com contains information in various languages.

Rotorua is also an important centre for the Maori language because of its large Maori population. Tourists can visit an old Maori village and an art and culture centre, and enjoy typical Maori food and dancing. Have you ever seen a 'haka' (war dance)?  You will see it in Rotorua!languages. Rotorua attracts many visitors from overseas and, therefore, it’s common to hear many languages spoken in Rotorua. 

As usual, the NZEA congress will be an interesting event with a full programme.  We will soon confirm the name of a well known Esperantist from overseas whom NZEA has invited to the congress to lecture, teach, and take sessions – to give an international flavour and to get people talking not in English but in Esperanto.