Hot Spots

Neelam Mathews ‘chills out’ at some of the thermal springs and mud cauldrons of New Zealand

Clouds of steam appear magically out of the ground. There is the unmistakable smell of sulphur amidst the erupting geysers, hot thermal springs and bubbling mud cauldrons. The place is Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand. The mud here boils like killer porridge while geysers vent their steamy spleen. This might be a magical landscape of dragons exhaling, even down to the pervasive, sulphurous aroma - the term "last one in is a rotten egg" certainly comes to mind.

The bucolic setting only serves to make Rotorua’s eerie thermal landscapes all the more bizarre, a startling reminder that the entire country was raised from the South Pacific sea floor by volcanic upheavals. Little wonder playwright George Bernard Shaw said during his visit to Rotorua in 1934: “I was pleased to get so close to Hades and be able to return.” Nestled at the southern end of Lake Rotorua, 135 miles from New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland, Rotorua sits amid the central North Island’s sheep-studded pastures where hedgerows and neat forests bring to mind England’s serene Lake District. A town of 50,000, Rotorua sits squarely atop an active volcanic zone. Ian Murray, my mentor and guide drives around the uncrowded town, which he complains is “very busy”. Perhaps he is referring to the steam rising from the ground everywhere! Although the most prolific of Rotorua’s volcanic oddities are contained in four thermal reserves within an hour’s drive of the city, downtown Rotorua is not immune. Vents from volcanic action can appear in the most unlikely places and even golf courses have heat rising from them. Since the first European settlement of Rotorua by Christian missionaries in 1835, the lakeshore’s hot pools and thermal springs, have attracted visitors. The thermal activity, caused by a break between the Indo-Pacific and Australasian “plates”, has gained Rotorua the name of “Geyserland”, and its displays continue to attract over one million visitors annually. The government built the first bathhouse in 1908, an Elizabethan-style Tudor Towers that housed thermal pools and massage cubicles within its voluminous wings. The grand old building still dominates the shores of Lake Rotorua, but is now a museum with contraptions more closely resembling a chamber of horrors than a health clinic. While the Queen Elizabeth Hospital nearby uses the waters in hydrotherapy treatment of arthritis and rheumatism, bathers these days come simply for a good, relaxing soak. Public and private thermal pools dot the city. Here, even motels offer thermal baths, and the south of the city has the major geothermal areas.

I am in the heart of Maori country as I head for the only reserve at Tikitere with acid-sulphate waters and an only mud volcano with the rather sinister name, Hell’s Gate.Tikitere is an awesome place with all the features you would expect in a thermal area - hot pools, lots of steam, boiling mud, but there is a big difference between this area and the others in the Rotorua district. All the water that you see is ordinary groundwater that has been heated by huge quantities of steam flowing through it, and is not hot water that has come from any great depth. The result is that the chemistry of Tikitere’s waters is very different from those of other geothermal areas in the district. Scientists describe the waters as “acid-sulphate” (shallow waters) and “chloride-bicarbonate” (deeper waters), in contrast with the “alkali-chloride” waters common in most other North Island geothermal areas. The 20 acres that make up the Hell’s Gate Thermal Reserve with sulphur formations, also offer New Zealand’s only geothermal mud bath and spa facility. Opened in July 2001 the WaiOra Spa is traditionally themed and allows visitors to experience bathing in the geothermal muds and sulphurous waters - an experience that the Maoris have enjoyed for over 700 years.

The temperature is 13 degrees centigrade as I am led to a mud bath covered on four sides with no roof. As I immerse myself into the warm mud, I am truly experiencing the WaiOra (healthy waters). The bath has an excess of 100 kgs of the finest geothermal muds. A 20-minute dip leaves the skin clean and soft. The ride back to reality is the really cold shower, followed by a soak in the sulphuric geothermal waters feeding a shallow pool with varying temperatures with a waterfall. This is followed by a traditional Maori massage using the unique New Zealand Manuka essential oil that has amazing hydrating and healing properties.

In town, the Polynesian Spa is located on the famous Priest Spring discovered by a Catholic priest, Father Mahoney, in 1878, waters of which he claimed, miraculously cured his rheumatism. Today, the modern, attractive thermal spa, continues the tradition of bathing in mineral waters in Rotorua. This is one of Rotorua’s popular stops with its 35 bathing pools (including hot springs and a large mineral pool), a small hydro slide, and family spa fresh water pool. Open 365 days a year it offers “Aix massage”, a smooth flowing massage done under jets of warm water using coconut oil as a massage medium. A comprehensive range of spa therapies from three wet massage rooms and five dry massage rooms, with stunning overviews of Sulphur Bay, are offered at the Polynesian Spa. All therapy clients are asked to soak in hot mineral pools prior to any therapy. This soak is an integral part of the therapy and is included in the therapy cost. Mud treatments are designed to complement the relaxation factor of the hot alkaline mineral water. This therapy is mainly for the back of the body. As I look at the mists gathering around the picturesque Lake Rotorua while soaking in the warm thermal waters of a private open area beautifully landscaped, I wonder what could be more ethereal than this experience?