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January 2009
New Year Greetings to all our previous guests at Nicara Lodge, in this our first newsletter.
We look forward to welcoming you back or meeting your friends whom you recommend to stay with us.
The economists tell us 2009 will hold uncertainty for many sectors, but at Nicara Lodge it is guests and hospitality as usual. We are privileged to meet so many wonderful people from around the world.
This season we have introduced a typical Kiwi BBQ on request. Many of our guests prefer to eat in the Lodge so we offer sausages, lamb chops, salads & garlic bread, followed by New Zealand pavlova - with New Zealand wine, of course! A great success!
This year we launched a new website with many additional packages & itineraries. View at www.nicaralodge.com From that you site you can go direct to Nicara Lakeside Cottage - have a look.
At Nicara Lodge we believe in sustainability for future generations. We are Bronze benchmarked with Green Globe. See our policy on our website.
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Currently we are No1 B&B in Rotorua on www.tripadvisor.com. Thank you to those guests who have written a comment; it is you who have given us that position. To those who have stayed with us this season a comment on Trip Advisor would be much appreciated - our future is in your hands. Nicara Lodge is a member of www.5staraccommodation.co.nz; a group of Guest & Hosted, 5 star Qualmark properties throughout New Zealand. All are owner/operators who are passionate about their regions. Please recommend this site to friends who are planning to visit New Zealand.
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| Luge & Gondola |
Rotorua recent updates:
The exciting news for Rotorua is that our airport is on schedule to be international from September this year. Flights will be direct from Australia but as yet the departure points and airlines are unannounced. Visiting Rotorua will become more accessible.
Skyline Skyrides have opened a second chairlift and 3 new luge tracks, making a total of 6. The gondolas have been replaced by 8 seater ones, the largest in the southern hemisphere.
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| Kiwi chick weigh in |
Kiwi Encounter at Rainbow Springs has successfully hatched & reared over 500 kiwi chicks. Once they reach 1Kg in weight, the birds are released into the same place from where the eggs were removed. Operation Nest Egg is determined to protect the kiwi from extinction. At present there are many chicks available for viewing.
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| Clive Fugill, Heather & Mike with the lintel |
Te Puia - the home of the geysers- has completed a major upgrade of their cultural centre. The Maori weaving and carving schools have been rehoused allowing better spectator viewing. There is also a new cultural evening called Te Po.
We recently commissioned a lintel for Nicara Lodge's entrance. This is being carved by Te Puia's head carver, Clive Fugill and will be completed in a few weeks.
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| Mike & Nicola at Wai-o-tapu |
Our geothermal nature parks continue to amaze visitors by their diversity in colour and formation. Many guests remark at how close one is able to get to the geothermal activity, as seen in this photo.
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| Sara at Auckland Airport |
We had a busy Christmas & New Year which we shared with many guests. Our elder daughter, Nicola, was with us but Sara, our youngster, was in Europe. She is spending 3 months in Germany & France, furthering her language skills to assist her in completing her Modern Languages degree this year in Wellington.
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| Laurel & Hardy |
So that is our news. Laurel & Hardy join us in wishing you all the best for 2009.
Heather & Mike
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