By Mere Takoko
The enchanted firewaters of Rotorua have attracted droves of visitors for centuries. Treasured by local Mäori for their now world-famous medicinal and healing properties, scientists are only beginning to understand the secrets lurking beneath this geothermal wonderland.
Tikitere geothermal field – also known as Hell’s Gate – is home to Wai Ora Spa which boasts some of New Zealand’s most active geothermal features including hot pools, mud pools and steaming fumaroles. Set in a 50-acre estate, it has been home to the people of the Ngäti Rangiteaorere tribe for more than 700 years.
The facility offers six mud baths of which three are private with a further two large mud baths capable of handling together
30 people, four spas and spa treatments including massage based on the concepts of Miri Miri, the traditional Mäori massage technique. Koha recently spoke with Wai Ora’s CEO, Bryan Hughes.
Koha: How much has Wai Ora grown over the past few years?
Bryan Hughes: Wai Ora is a true 50/50 venture between Tikitere Trust and Tatou Holdings Ltd. The Trustees have seen the asset grow dramatically. When we first started, our turnover was NZ$200,000. Our turnover is now around NZ$3million per year. We had to go through a period of trial and error in a big way. We like to be under the radar so a lot of people don’t actually know that within the Wai Ora group we employ more than 60 odd people.
Koha: What makes Wai Ora so unique?
Bryan Hughes: We’ve done a lot of research to gather knowledge about the properties of our mud’s and spas. I probably know more about our muds and waters than anybody else in my tribe now largely through trial and error as well as experimentation. We’re the only geothermal park that produces geothermal mud every day. We produce approximately two and a half tonnes a day. The geothermal activity we have here is completely different to all the other local geothermal parks. We have 3 types of mud on this site: white, grey, and black.
Koha: They’re world famous I hear.
Bryan Hughes: Yes. They all have different properties. The black mud has got close to 80 years of history for the treatment of rheumatism and arthritis. It has been the basis of treatments undertaken by the QEII hospital in Rotorua. The grey mud in combination with our sulphur water is really good for the skin so we have a lot of people who come to the Spa with dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis. We don’t make any medical claims but we’ve certainly seen for ourselves the improvement that has occurred to these people after their visits.
Koha: And the white mud?
Bryan Hughes: You can actually pick up the white mud and it’s like clay. If you squeeze it between your hands it runs like water and as soon as you stop vibrating it, the mud goes solid again. When it liquefies your hand goes cold as the heat is drawn out. It’s the best vacuum cleaner for your skin as it takes all the impurities out of the pores. It also has a natural agent in it that blends with your complexion. Lots of people have tried to copy it and they can’t. It’s amazing stuff.
Koha: What is most popular with tourists who visit?
Bryan Hughes: Our most popular product that we sell to tourists is the geothermal mud bath and spa. When we did the mud baths we thought it would be really nice if we could do massage, and we now also provide traditional massages. We train our practitioners here. A couple of years ago we won the NZ Tourism Award for innovation because nobody had ever done what we did and we took out the best visitor attraction award as well.
Koha: Have you won any international awards?
Brian Hughes: A few years ago we set up a spa in Bangkok. After a lot of research, we recreated our spa and mineral baths in the middle of Bangkok. We ended up taking out the Bangkok spa awards as well. We also export a number of spa and beauty products and won an export award. Now we’ve been asked to franchise around the world so we’re looking at that possibility. We also have our own resort. It is our fervent hope that Tikitere will become one of the world leaders of spas because it’s really unique.
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