A chance to feel the power of Mother Nature

Visitors to Te Puia, formerly The New Zealand Arts and Crafts Institute, now have an entirely new experience at their feet. And it is guaranteed to provide warm rumblings beneath.

The history of Te Puia and the Whakarewarewa thermal valley will be felt and experienced nowhere better than amid nature itself.

And Korero Tuku Iho - a new nature walk - has been created at the newly branded Te Puia attraction in Rotorua to provide just that.

Te Puia chief executive Andrew Te Whaiti communing with nature on the new walkway

Korero Tuku Iho offers an interactive experience of the sights and sounds of Whakarewarewa, with minimal signage.

Those who tread its trails will feel the wairua, or spirit, of this place and the intuitive nature of the walk overcomes language barriers to traditional signage, Te Puia chief executive Andrew Te Whaiti says. “It gives tour guides a great tool for story-telling.”

But as Andrew points out, those taking the nature walk will need to study their surroundings carefully, for it has many secrets - among them tools, carvings, drying berries and flax racks.

Those who visit will also be encouraged to take off their shoes to feel the warmth beneath the paths and at times, even the Earth’s vibrations.

Korero Tuku Iho has been designed to look like it has always been there and over coming months, will be expanded further, to ultimately provide a two hour walk.

The careful crafting of this nature walk is also designed, Andrew says, to overcome another major problem in this geothermal area - the run-off of surface water into the small streams and mud pools which abound there.

In the past, that’s been a concern in this fragile environment. But with the paving of the walkway, that is no longer a threat to a pristine location, in which Maori have lived for centuries.

Korero Tuku Iho signals the first phase of an expansion of facilities at Te Puia, with other innovative developments set to be rolled out over the next six months.

Andrew Te Whaiti is not revealing the specifics of them yet, but he has revealed that the multi-million dollar expansion will represent the most significant tourism project in Aotearoa New Zealand this year.