One hour from our home is the small town of Te Aroha. It is nestled under a formidable mountain that rises straight up from the Waikato dairy plains. It has an awe inspiring presence. One, I fell in love with as a university student all those years ago when I would go to stay at Anne’s for the weekend. Her mother cooked like a dream!
Last weekend, Roger and I went to Hamilton and detoured to go hug our mountain, driving up past the candy striped war memorial resplendent in pink, as is the main pink bridge in town with its unbelievably retro lamp stands. We did a tourist drive by of the town’s main attraction, the thermal spa springs and their 1920’s outbuildings. Roger’s mother said as a child she used to go from spa town to spa town in the North Island as part of their annual family holiday. What a civilised pursuit! Teahouses, tea dances, World War Two and the American soldiers stationed there hmmm – a lot of fun for some....
The indoor hot pools are refilled after each bather. A hot soda geyser spouts forth above the spa buildings and other buildings are dotted over the flanks of the mountain. Such as a restaurant, more bathing huts and recreational genteel ghosts of the past like the band rotunda. Accommodation choices are plentiful and some offer mountain bikes for their guests to explore a most delightful place.
