My Account
Improved health and tourism are just some of the benefits that flow from the thermal springs at Waiwera. The hot pools form a natural heart for the township that wraps around them and are used regularly by locals who enjoy their low-key community flavour. Growth and development in and around the pools will in turn influence the future of the township as the population in this part of Rodney grows. Next month Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort celebrates 161 years. Terry Moore takes up the story…
“For four months I was laid up with rheumatism, contracted at the mines. I was unable to walk without the aid of a stick and my body was bent nearly double. I was under medical treatment, without the slightest benefit. After a fortnight spent at Waiwera Hot Springs, bathing three times a day and drinking freely of the water, I now find myself cured, entirely free of aches or pains.” Peter Martin, 1875
The desire for a relaxing, therapeutic soak in the natural thermal springs at Waiwera has drawn people to the area for more than 160 years. Maori called the water “te rata” (the doctor) and accessed the springs by digging holes in the sand, as people do at Hot Water Beach. In 1845, Scotsman Robert Graham purchased the land from Maori. In a deal typical of the time, Mr Graham negotiated a price with Maori, but the Crown made payment and then passed the title onto the new owner. The price included 26 blankets, four spades, one cask of tobacco, four double-barrelled guns, one bag of shot, four cartridge boxes, three casks of powder, five shirts, two cloth caps, one coat and 16 pounds in cash.
Mr Graham first advertised Waiwera Hot Springs Hotel in 1848 and developed a sanitarium, including the hotel and bathing houses, during the 1860–70s. The sanitarium was enormously popular, with steamship loads of people from Auckland arriving daily to drink and bathe in the mineral-rich waters.
On October 3–4 Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort, as it is now known, celebrates 161 years as a thermal spa with two days of family-focused fun. General manager Wendy Snookes says the celebration not only recognises a historical milestone, but looks forward to current owner John St. Clair Brown’s vision of upgraded pools, a wellness centre and spa village offering accommodation, therapy and entertainment to locals and visitors.
Mr Brown, whose previous developments include Victoria Park Market in Auckland and Mt Hutt ski field, bought the pool complex in 1989 and runs it as a family business. He says his vision of a spa village is “a work in progress in the current economic climate”.
The scheme involves building village-style accommodation on a one-hectare site adjoining the spa. Mr Brown sold this site to property developers McEwan Group in 2004, so that they could undertake the development, but says he was unhappy with their plan for a 235-room hotel and apartment block. The hotel obtained resource consent, but never eventuated as company director Dan McEwan was adjudicated bankrupt in February and the Waiwera development went into receivership. Currently the land, together with the 1.7ha Waiwera Holiday Park site, is up for mortgagee sale. Mr Brown says he is still owed money and is working out a way forward.
“There is great potential for the spa village to happen,” Mr Brown says. “A huge hotel, such as proposed by McEwan would be wrong for Waiwera. I want to see the concept redesigned as a seaside spa retreat with smaller buildings in keeping with community values and the landscape.”
Replacing the jetty, which was built in 1905 but fell into disrepair and was destroyed in the late 1930s, is also part of his plan.
“A jetty would enable people to commute here by sea as they did in the early days. There is no reason why we can’t recreate the romance of yesteryear that comes with sea travel.”
In the interim, Mr Brown plans to spend around $5 million redeveloping the pools, a project he will begin this year, as long as finance can be raised.
“I want to transform the pools into a multi-dimensional water experience. There will be pools of different shapes, sizes and temperatures, and a range of ways for people of all ages to enjoy the water.”
The project is modelled on thermal spas in Europe, which feature salt pools and fun pools for children as well as a channel enabling visitors to swim to and from the changing rooms. Mr Brown is adamant that any changes will be in keeping with the scale of Waiwera and says he has no desire for a Queensland-style theme park. The redevelopment will take place in stages so that the pools can remain open.
The thermal water, which comes from a deep aquifer on the hillside behind the town, has been bottled on site since 1875 in aerated and still forms. Two large bores supply the pools and bottling plant. The clear, odourless water was marketed in the early days as “the elixir of life”. It is carbon dated at 15,000 years old, is pH neutral and comes out of the ground at a steady 52°C, so has to be cooled for use in the pools. (The hottest pool, close to scalding at 48°C, is tempered by flowing into a 40°C pool.) Wendy Snookes says the water is filtered because it is so mineral-rich that it would otherwise be stained brown.
Regulars, mainly Waiwera locals, are the bread and butter of the spa. Among them is Elizabeth Hoefhamer, aged 79, who lives nearby and does 20 lengths every morning at the pools, mainly for the health benefits. She has been coming to the pools daily for 21 years. A group of around 20 people, known as The Wogglers, take an exercise class at the pools three times a week and school groups also come for classes.
With the 150-year anniversary imminent, Wendy Snookes says the time is right to make big changes at the spa.
“The resort has never celebrated a birthday and we felt it was important to pay homage and give credit to this Kiwi icon that many of us remember from our childhoods. It is also a chance to look forward to the rejuvenation of one of Waiwera’s most loved assets.”
I have swum in the hot pools every day for 21 years. I have a back problem and my specialist reckons that regular swimming in the thermal water is the best therapy possible. You have to do an x-ray to see how bad my back is, as it doesn’t cause me any pain at all. Elizabeth Hoefhamer, 2009
