Figure 83: The Te Aroha Domain mineral springs, circa 1910. Source: John Henderson and John Bartrum, The Geology of the Aroha Subdivision, Hauraki, Auckland Geological Survey Branch Bulletin 16 (Wellington: Department of Mines, 1913).

every day extending to the sister colonies’.³¹ Treatment consisted of both drinking the waters and various forms of bathing. In 1907, the Government Balneologist remarked on the therapeutic qualities of Te Aroha mineral waters which, ‘in many respects surpass, the most celebrated alkaline waters of Europe’.³²

By the early 1900s, Te Aroha had become well established as a health resort, an Edwardian spa that has retained much of its character today. In addition to bath houses in the domain, there were tennis courts and other recreational facilities. Several hotels facing on to the domain accommodated visitors, who could enjoy fishing and boating on the Waihou River nearby. Geologists John Henderson and John Bartrum suggested that these features ‘combined to make Te Aroha the most beautiful spa in the North Island, where the invalid may find health, and the general visitor spend a delightful holiday’. The mineral waters were ‘justly famous for their therapeutic properties’ and one of the cold springs provided a

31.J S Ingram, Guide for Invalids to the Thermal Springs and Baths of Te Aroha, New Zealand (Te Aroha: J S Ingram, 1892), p3

32.Herbert A Stanley and A S Wohlmann, The Mineral Waters and Health Resorts of New Zealand (Wellington: Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, 1907), p 6o; see also Ian Rockel, Taking the Waters: Early Spas in New Zealand (Wellington: Government Printing Office, 1986)