Rotorua Musuem

Rotorua has been a tourist destination since humanity discovered New Zealand. Because of my late arrival, the first night I didn't have much time to do anything beyond going into town and grabbing some dinner. Twilight over the lake was quite lovely, though I'm sad this picture turned out a bit blurry.

The next morning I wandered into town to explore and found my way to a park called Government Gardens, which is the site of, well, gardens - also geothermal activity, hot springs, and a grand old building that used to be a spa and is now a museum. The park was quite lovely. The land on which the park stands was gifted by the local Māori tribe in 1880, with the stipulation that the thermal pools be set aside “Hei oranga mō ngā iwi katoa o te Ao” – for the benefit of the people of the world.

There were a few juvenile Pukēko wandering the grounds near the entrance.

There are quite a few thermal pools in the area, this is Whangapīpiro, also known as the Rachel Pool. The water is alkaline and reaches a temperature of 212F (100C). It became known as the Rachel Pool after an English cosmetician (Madam Rachel) promised people that the silica in the water would soften skin and keep them young. Water from this pool has been pumped to various spas over the years, and you can still bathe in it at the nearby Polynesian Spa.

This is the Rotorua Museum, which used to be a spa and bath houses. The wing on the right is devoted to Māori history and the history of the area, as well as art galleries. There was a touring exhibition in the other wing, but it was not yet open. There are also parts of the building devoted to its history as a bath house, and visitors can travel to the basement to see some of the old piping (it is noticeably warmer down there, due to geothermal activity).

You can also go up to a viewing platform on the roof (which can be seen on the left wing in the picture above). This is the view north toward the lake.

And the view west toward town.

East, toward more of the lake.

And south, toward, um, the rest of the building.

I did really like the Tudor style. Construction on the bath house started in 1906 and was completed in 1908. Sadly, the builders didn't know how to counteract the effects of sulfur and acidic steam on the building, so it was plagued with maintenance problems from day one. It did stay open as a spa until 1966. The museum and art gallery opened in 1969, and from 1977 to 1990, there was a night club at the top of the grand staircase in the center.

It's a grand old building, and I'm glad that the city of Rotorua continues to maintain this building as part of their history rather than tearing it down.