In May 2022, Rotorua Ziplines opened its gates for the first time. The wires were up. The platforms were built. The boardwalks weaved between the trees. And on the farm side of the river, a hillside that had been stripped of its native cover for decades sat mostly bare - a blank canvas that was about to become something else entirely.
Four years later, that hillside is unrecognisable. Where there was grass and exposed soil, there is now a dense canopy of native plantings, growing thicker every season. You can see it from the ziplines. You can feel it on the walk up. The ngahere is coming back!
This May, we turn 4.
And we think that's worth celebrating.
From the very first guests in May 2022 to the end of April 2026, 42,675 people have zipped through the Ōkere Scenic Reserve, crossed the swing bridge above the native canopy, and looked down at the Kaituna River from a height most people never get to experience. Some came for the thrill. Some came for the views. A lot of them tell us afterwards it was the trees and the birds that stayed with them longest.
That number matters to us beyond the business side of it. Every booking has contributed - through our 7.5% gross revenue commitment to the Lake Rotoiti Scenic Reserves - to the conservation work happening right here. 42,675 guests have, without necessarily knowing it, been part of funding the restoration of the place they just flew through.
When we opened, the vision was already clear: we wanted to increase the native footprint around Ōkere Falls significantly. Invasive weeds were cleared. Native species were sourced, grown, and planted. And four years on, 68,000 native trees are in the ground across the reserve and the surrounding land.
That number is the result of a lot of early mornings, muddy boots, and methodical planting. It is also the result of the community - Predator Free Ōkere Falls, our mana whenua partners, the staff who donate their time, and the guests who add a donation at checkout to help us fund the trees we plant out of pocket.
Sixty-eight thousand is a big number. The forest is starting to look like it.
A native forest does not regenerate just because you plant trees. You also have to protect what you plant. Since 2022, our combined trap lines, run together with Rotorua Rafting across 12 hectares of the Ōkere Scenic Reserve, have removed over 480 pest animals from the reserve. Rats, possums, stoats, ferrets.
In 2026 we stepped up our commitment: every trap line is now walked at least once a week. The results have been immediate. We caught more rats in the first four months of 2026 than in some entire previous years. Consistency, as it turns out, is the key.
Nothing tells the story of four years better than looking at the same hillside in 2022 and again today. We have been watching it change season by season - a few more plants here, a bit more canopy closing in there. But the drone footage comparison is the thing that stops people in their tracks. The bare slope from year one versus the dense, thriving patchwork of 2026. That is four years of work, visible from above.
We are going to keep sharing that story through May - because if there is one thing worth celebrating on a birthday, it is the gap between where you started and where you are now.
Four years of Rotorua Ziplines is not just a business milestone. It is a people milestone. The crew who show up every morning, strap guests in, walk the trap lines, do the Monday clean-ups, plant the trees, and genuinely love this place as much as we do. They are the reason any of this works. A huge kia ora to every single one of them.
It is also a time to celebrate and thank our community, mana whenua partners, volunteers from Predator Free Ōkere Falls, the tamariki who have planted seeds with us.
Of course, we love what we do, and we couldn't do it without you! Our Manuhiri. Every guest who has chosen to spend a morning flying through the ngahere - you are who we do this for. The forest belongs to all of us. It is only getting better because of all of us.
Ngā mihi nui. Thank you. Here is to another four years of Ziplining Over Waterfalls!
