Set high in the hills this workshop is a great place to spend the morning. Very welcoming and friendly atmosphere. With no past experience we crafted a piece of artwork under Rob's skilled guidance. Enjoyed a scrumptious morning tea and left with a great sense of achievement. Even got to keep our prized creation! Amazing to see the skill and passion Rob has for blacksmithing Thanks Rob and family

Rob & Arja were very welcoming and the course was awesome. I did full day course so i was available to forge my own kitchenette knife i'm so grateful to have a knife i'll carry for all my carrer. I'll not forget to tanins Arja for the beautiful lunch. (And thank's again for the receipe!!!!) well if you want to spend a good day and learning some blacksmith that's definitly the place to be Cheers Seb

I'd give it 6 stars if I could. For anyone wanting to learn the ancient art of the Blacksmith or just have a fun day and go home with something you've made and a great story to tell, this experience is well worth it. Rob is always willing to pass on his wealth of knowledge and experience. His enthusiasm for the craft is contagious and the full day experience is honestly not enough for any avid fan of crafting glowing hot metal. I could have spent a week there. Arja's authentic, home cooking was phenomenal and really added to the whole experience. You can't learn on an empty stomach. I will definitely be going back to Kowhai Forge.

There are not many most do in Nz but this is definitely one. Just go for it. You wont doubt it. I did it with my father and we both enjoyed it really much. Together with the waitomo caves the two best things on the north island. It is just awesome, Rob is funny, friendly and knows and loves what he does. The food is good and so are the drinks. It came out that the knife in the end was just ,,Das Sahnehäubchen" as we would say in Germany. Hands down that's a 5/5 without any hesitation.

This was such an awesome experience. Blacksmithing is SO HARD! But Rob makes it look so easy, bringing life into steel! So good.

A must see place in NZ. Its beauty is natural and I appreciate how amazing it is.

Definitely an experience worth trying. Easy walking paths and plenty photo opportunities. Easy booking process and staff are also really friendly. Thank you!

Kids loved it

Very easy. Walked in and they knew who I was!! Walk is about 45-60 mins, very atmospheric and lots of steam . Easy walking paths . Platform at start looks over park can be reached by elderly and disabled.

A nice walk around the park. I would recommend taking the walk up to the lookout great views

This is an undiscovered secret, it is not as busy as other geothermal areas but has an amazing feel of being alive. There are masses of fumaroles which are very active. There is now a viewing platform next to shop. You still have to pay full price to go there but if you use bookme.co.NZ it is only $4. Shame there isn’t a coffee shop . It’s about a 45-60 mins walk, so go to loo at shop before you start

Lovely place, definitely worth the visit. Lots of history and information signs around too

Highly Recommend! I’ve always seen amazing pictures of Craters of the Moon on Instagram for many years now. It was a matter of when I’d get to go on a weekend or day trip. We were coming from Auckland, planned a weekend trip to Taupo and Rotorua but didn’t exactly plan what we exactly we were going to do there. So, on the car ride to Taupo, I found these deals on Bookme and quickly booked us tickets and headed straight there. It was super affordable and It was such an amazing and stunning scenery. It was very nice to just take a walk and admire the view at our own time and pace. It was definitely a really good experience!

Nice geothermal walk. Manage to get special price from bookme. Worth the price.

Easy hīkoi. Beautiful and interesting. Great for the whole whanau.

Unreal, marvelous, good job guys 🎉👏🌟

Great ride with great views. more 360 spins than other jet boat rides

Thoroughly enjoyed our trip aboard Barbary. Our captain, Jamie, was very entertaining and informative. We had beautiful weather, although the wind was lacking so we motored more than sailed. The kids loved a chance to steer the ship.

This cruiser blew my expectations out of the water. We had a 3 week holiday and did many things. This 3 hour cruise on Kindred Spirit is one of my best memories. ALL of us on the cruise jumped off near the carvings and took a loooong swim in the freezing but beautiful water. Our guide (forgot your name matey - sorry) was excellent and very entertaining.

Great time on the boat, swimming close to the maori rock. Very friendly staff, beautiful cruise.

A stunning experience. We enjoyed the spectacular scenery and found the commentary fascinating.

I went on this tour as an afternoon activity and enjoyed my time. The skipper was funny and open to communicate if you want to but was also happy to just let you relax and have some pizza and a free drink. Considering this and the 2:30h sail the pricing is more than fair. Sadly we didn't have the best sailing weather so we had the supporting engine on most of the time and it was a bit too cold for the swimming stop, which would have probably added to the experience. The rock carvings itself are a good but not spectacular sight, though I was disappointed by their short age (1970s) as I expected something more historical. All in all this trip is really good value for money for anyone interested in sailing Lake Taupo!

Really enjoyed our sail, great value for money. Very relaxing and interesting too Loved being powered by wind or electric - very peaceful and no fumes! We didn’t go on sunset cruise in the end but went the next morning.

We had a very good experience! Beautiful landscapes, friendly captain and amazing weather on the top! I recommend :)

Even though the water was a bit rough, the experience was great! Big shout out to the crew, Craig and the Skipper. Got to meet people from different parts of the world which was lovely. Stopped for a swim in this beautiful cozy little spot. So glad we booked ourselves on this 2.5 hour trip. Was definitely worth the money. Memories to take home for sure ??

We did the sunset cruise and what an amazing experience it was! David is an experienced skipper and wonderful host. The Moari rock carvings were beautiful and the sunset just gorgeous. Thank you so much for such an unforgettable experience!

We travelled from Australia in hope of getting to learn the maori culture. And that we did! The cruise out to the maori rocks was a good start in learning about the area and history of the lake. The captain was very thourough in explaining the different parts of the lake and the first colonys on the lake sides and also his description of the maori rocks. I would definately recommend my friends and family to experience the tour on board the Ernest Kemp. Thouroughly enjoyed by myself and family.

Loved our experience and my whole family had a wonderful time on the lake. The carvings were easy to see and it was up to our expectations! Great afternoon out and highly recommend this boat.

What a fabulous way to spend time on such a beautiful Lake. The captain, Kerry, was friendly and overflowing with local knowledge. My husband and I could not recommend this highly enough!!

The trip was memorable with the whole family on board and of course with the amazing staff on board too.

It’s exactly what you pay for, totally worth it.......

We had a great trip out to see the carvings. Would totally recomend!