Put a spring in your step

As the sun spotlights Mt Te Aroha, life runs to its own pace in a small town too often overlooked by Kiwis searching a relaxed weekend away. Picture / Amos Chapple

Ask 10 people what they know about Te Aroha and you're likely to get the answers I did: "nothing", "a mountain", or "I drive through it".

How about, the only soda water geyser in the world, spotless mineral bathhouses and one of the best designed thermal outdoor swimming complexes in the country?

It was only a small "hot springs" sign on my map of New Zealand that intrigued us to find out more. The town, it turns out, is one of the country's better kept secrets.

Te Aroha is more than a Waikato farming town. It has hot pools, a geyser, great walking up Mt Te Aroha (the tallest peak in the Kaimai Mamaku range). Other local attractions include the Waihou River for kayaking and trout fishing, a mini arts trail, and a 300-year-old church organ.

Te Aroha's well-preserved Edwardian domain is the town's central attraction. The domain is dotted with turn-of-the-century structures where hot and tepid springs were found. These days, there's a completely renovated outdoor thermal swimming complex, the Wyborn Leisure Pools, which has a hot spa pool, toddlers' pool with artificial waterfall and a deeper pool.

If you want to "take the waters", the only option for sinking yourself into real soda water is to hire a private pool in the immaculately renovated Mokena Spa Baths, or for a more traditional soak, the Number 2 Bathhouse is much as it was in Edwardian times - except for the emergency pull cable.

The Mokena spa's waters, although tasting of soda, are crystal clear. The Number 2 Bathhouse with its murky, slightly bubbly waters have an altogether more authentic feel.

The other attraction in the domain is the somewhat fickle Mokena Geyser. It can, I'm told, shoot many metres upwards. But the geyser was suffering "prostrate problems" the day we went and after 45 minutes, waiting in a somewhat sad bus shelter-like structure, it spluttered all of 30 centimetres.

Unmarked, but also of great amusement to the children was a rotunda which housed a single drinking fountain of soda water (yes, you can drink it), which we dared each other to swallow. There's also a museum, in the old Cadmus Sanitorium building, packed with paraphernalia from the history of the town - open weekends and public holidays.

We stayed in a family room at the tiny YHA - because it was cheap and it backed directly on to the bush. The YHA also offers free mountain bike hire and there is a 10km well-maintained riding track in town.

It's a 45 minute walk (or 75 with two young children) to the Whakapipi lookout above the town, or two hours to the summit of Mt Te Aroha. From either you can see Mt Ngauruhoe in one direction and the Firth of Thames and Coromandel Peninsula in the other.

The choices for eating out aren't huge. On our first night we decided that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" and joined the throng of people outside PJs takeaways on Whitaker St.

For lunches it's possible to eat in the domain at the former gardener's residence, now converted into the Cottage Cafe.

For night-time dining the Ironique cafe on Whitaker St is really the best place to go. The cafe is fitted out with recycled timber and some quite spectacular iron work from a local forge.