Re-taking the waters in Te Aroha

Te Aroha is planning to re-create its spa town heyday when visitors came from all around the world to take the waters.

Te Aroha Domain opened in 1898.

Now the town, with hot springs and geyser bubbling out of Mt Te Aroha, has the carefully restored Cadman Bathhouse as a museum and the pavilion over the No 8 Drinking Fountain is a replica.

Shirley and David Stewart have leased the vacant 1908 Domain House Restaurant building and are turning it into a "boutique day spa", to open in February.