tudor towers in rotorua

I started with a trip around both islands in New Zealand I then flew to Thailand drove on through Malaysia and found my way down to visit an ex-pat friend in the heart of Singapore. There were so many places I went to that without pictures I probably would have forgotten half my trip.

This is in the hot (literally) little town of Rotorua.  There is thermal activity under the ground everywhere.  The smell of rotten eggs is pervasive.  Tudor Towers was erected in an area now known as the Government Gardens, and was built as a bathhouse in 1906-1908 by the newly-created Department of Tourist and Health Resorts. The bathhouse was designed to attract wealthy visitors from the Northern hemisphere for medical treatment and genteel relaxation. 

The baths combined medical treatment for complaints, such as rheumatism and psoriasis, with relaxation in the form of massage and musical concerts. A large numbers of visitors were admitted, including several hundred wounded soldiers during the First World War.  With the decline of spas as centres for medical treatment, the baths were eventually closed in 1966.  Original fixtures were uncovered during an extensive conservation programme in the 1990s and are on display as part of the building's current function as the Rotorua Museum of Art and History/Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.