Menu
Hot springs Maruia 1950's
Expand/collapse
About this image
DescriptionHot springs Maruia 1950's
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection 895-A48451
National Publicity StudioDate of Photo1950'sMap[1] ContributorMaye Dunn
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection 895-A48451
National Publicity StudioDate of Photo1950'sMap[1] ContributorMaye Dunn
Shown in this image
Location (city or town)Maruia Springs
Category Information
Category Tagscenic
From Facebook
Date Created22nd August 2020CommentsAnne Miller Mcmillan
Went there a lot in the 60s. Loved it.
Trish Leckie
I went there a long long time ago
Marlene Jackson Perry
Next time we come over the ditch, we will visit again.!!!
Lois Worthington
Marlene Jackson Perry bring lots of money. It is expensive.
Marlene Jackson Perry
Lois Worthington really???
Okay, maybe as an ex pat, I'll look at visiting the Aussie Hot pools.
Robyn Halkett
Marlene Jackson Perry we stopped in yest $45 ! .did not swim
Pat Weir
Like Trish Leckie I went there a long long time ago
very basic then haven’t been in since to look and see how it is now
Maria Webley
I was there 3 weeks ago... its amazing nowadays. Such a treat
Pete Doncliff
Just how I remember it from the 60s.....
Annemarie Harris
It changed in the late 80's early 90's to smaller pools and it is quite nice. I remember this from '83 or '84. Discovered my sister is allergic to sulphur and by Culverden was feeling unwell and by Amberly absolutely vomiting.
Elizabeth Mehrtens
This is the way I remember them, I think there were 2 private pools on the side you could hire for a small extra charge, Tilly Bells wood cabin was always an extra to visit while we were there.
Margaret Standen
Elizabeth Mehrtens yes as I remember them to Liz. I also remember sandflies we’re terrible sometimes.
Elizabeth Mehrtens
Sandflies were . as big as blinim ordinary flies Marg, the solphur was strong as well , oh but we loved it
Annemarie Harris
I remember meeting the Standons one weekend at Hamner. Do you remember that Margie?
KevinandMargaret Mills
This is how I remember them
Heather Newby
loved our trips to Maruia Springs..
Robyn Halkett
$45 a swim now!
Elizabeth Mehrtens
Whow, but in reality to keep up with Health & Safety and rising staff wages this would be realistic us Kiwi do like to be paid a good wage so up goes the prices
Robyn Halkett
Elizabeth Mehrtens really?
Kaye Mckay
Had many swims in this pool
Linda Skelton
I remember swimming there on opening day and many years after. Was something to swim around in the warmth while snow fell on you. The changing rooms look really tidy here but nothing could stop them being absolutely freezing. The pool complex was Govt
John Visser
Who owns the motel there?
Maye Dunn
I'm not sure John Visser and someone correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that the Japanese had bought it.
Jill Kramer
Going there in the 60s as a child was a great adventure.
Marg Iacoppi
Loved these, we went a few times during my 12 years growing up in Blackball, always in winter, gloomy cold days and the pools looked black with steam rising off them. We’d stop at Springs Junction for tea and they did spaghetti sandwiches, which I also loved but no one else has heard of them!
Bob Maxwell
Used to call in here on our trips from Westport to Christchurch
Joyce Pitura
Remember those baths well we went quiet a bit up there it help mum and my gold bracelet turning black then would return to normal good old days
Naireen Bass
Yes, had quite a few swims in this pool back in those days.
Garry Cooke
Loved rolling in the snow then back in the pool.
Hazel Wilkes
Remember that well as a kid
John Patrick Ward
That’s how I remember it in the mid 60s when our family stayed there
Lyn Mallinson
I learnt to swim there. My mum would have a private pool as she couldn't swim and would just sit and bathe. I remember going over the swing bridge to a small natural pool, would that be correct, I was only about 6 years old, after swimming, it would be a raspberry and lemonade at the pub around the pot belly stove, dad would have a beer, great memories of the area
Rodney Burns Yes , that's right Lyn. It was great swimming in the hot pool with snow all around while Dad was in the bar.
Rodney Burns We are having a power cut in about 4 minutes until 4pm today.
Sandy Brears I was told that the wild pigs used to play on the warm water too
Dorothy Wills Swum in that pool many times in the 1960s Was a favourite place for the locals to have a nice warm swim and relax. My husband and I would have a drink in the bar and leave the children happily having a swim. We lived 30 miles(50 kms) away
Arthur Bass We used to go up there from Reefton as kids. Parents in the bar, kids in the pool. On the way home Dad would run over coons and Mossie Howard would jump out, skin the token back in and so on all the way home.
Bob Broadhurst Half a crown token from memory??? (two and six .... or 25 cents in today's language)..... i remember my old man taking the tokens as well
The ears and a 9 inch strip down the back i think constituted the token..... think this was so you couldn't sell the skin as well as the token wasn't it Arthur
Arthur Bass Bob Broadhurst that's right Bob. Good memory for an old bugger. Half a crown for shag feet and eel tails as well.
Dick Thomas Used to have the odd late night swim, on the way home from shooting. Eh guys
Manage
John Vasta We spent most of the time diving under the water back in the early 60s .No talk of amoebic meningitis in those days
Barbara Nieper Yes do remember the baths looking like this.
Irene Lines Remember bathing there with snow on the ground.
John Vasta We used to camp below the pools ,sit outside by our old caravan light a fire and cook bangers for tea while our parents got on the turps .those were the days .
Cherye Bradley Middleton We went there camping as kids
Clint Eves I remember the mid 1950's, hunting the tops across the old swingbridge, coming back down, covered in blood and mud, having a couple in the bar, then grabbing a bottle ( no stubbies then) of Monteith? Then lying in the hot pool soaking it all away, and repeat it again the next day. Them were the days, and being 21 was never questioned..
Robyn Halkett Clint Eves did you know Howard Robinson? He was culling deer then
Clint Eves Robyn Halkett the years I mention were meat hunting at weekends for the Hotels in Ch. Ch, used to get 5bob a pound for hind legs and back straps, this while I was waiting to grow up for the deerculling job, I was 16-17years old. But do not know the name, but yours seems to ring a bell?
Kevin Voigt i help pull these down and build new ones when sold to over seas consortium we couldnt break up old pool with 28 ton digger so fitted small pools in side it no shortage of cement when it was builtJohn Visser
I built the old Sluice Box Bridge on the Lake Daniels walk not far from here in the late 70s
Arthur Bass
John Visser did you manage to get any of the Sluice Box trout ? Legally.
John Visser
Arthur Bass no mate, didn't fish it just transported the bridge, assembled it and launched it into it's final position
Naireen Bass When it was still called M our a where, not Ma roo ee a
Linda Skelton Still is in our lot Naireen.
Naireen Bass Linda Skelton ,sure is.
Manage
Pip Watkins Loved going there back in the day.
Kevin Voigt pool built buy govt hotel private owend years 2 old maids owned it last i heard when work ing lewis rd was bought by japenese
2
Went there a lot in the 60s. Loved it.
Trish Leckie
I went there a long long time ago
Marlene Jackson Perry
Next time we come over the ditch, we will visit again.!!!
Lois Worthington
Marlene Jackson Perry bring lots of money. It is expensive.
Marlene Jackson Perry
Lois Worthington really???
Okay, maybe as an ex pat, I'll look at visiting the Aussie Hot pools.
Robyn Halkett
Marlene Jackson Perry we stopped in yest $45 ! .did not swim
Pat Weir
Like Trish Leckie I went there a long long time ago
very basic then haven’t been in since to look and see how it is now
Maria Webley
I was there 3 weeks ago... its amazing nowadays. Such a treat
Pete Doncliff
Just how I remember it from the 60s.....
Annemarie Harris
It changed in the late 80's early 90's to smaller pools and it is quite nice. I remember this from '83 or '84. Discovered my sister is allergic to sulphur and by Culverden was feeling unwell and by Amberly absolutely vomiting.
Elizabeth Mehrtens
This is the way I remember them, I think there were 2 private pools on the side you could hire for a small extra charge, Tilly Bells wood cabin was always an extra to visit while we were there.
Margaret Standen
Elizabeth Mehrtens yes as I remember them to Liz. I also remember sandflies we’re terrible sometimes.
Elizabeth Mehrtens
Sandflies were . as big as blinim ordinary flies Marg, the solphur was strong as well , oh but we loved it
Annemarie Harris
I remember meeting the Standons one weekend at Hamner. Do you remember that Margie?
KevinandMargaret Mills
This is how I remember them
Heather Newby
loved our trips to Maruia Springs..
Robyn Halkett
$45 a swim now!
Elizabeth Mehrtens
Whow, but in reality to keep up with Health & Safety and rising staff wages this would be realistic us Kiwi do like to be paid a good wage so up goes the prices
Robyn Halkett
Elizabeth Mehrtens really?
Kaye Mckay
Had many swims in this pool
Linda Skelton
I remember swimming there on opening day and many years after. Was something to swim around in the warmth while snow fell on you. The changing rooms look really tidy here but nothing could stop them being absolutely freezing. The pool complex was Govt
John Visser
Who owns the motel there?
Maye Dunn
I'm not sure John Visser and someone correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that the Japanese had bought it.
Jill Kramer
Going there in the 60s as a child was a great adventure.
Marg Iacoppi
Loved these, we went a few times during my 12 years growing up in Blackball, always in winter, gloomy cold days and the pools looked black with steam rising off them. We’d stop at Springs Junction for tea and they did spaghetti sandwiches, which I also loved but no one else has heard of them!
Bob Maxwell
Used to call in here on our trips from Westport to Christchurch
Joyce Pitura
Remember those baths well we went quiet a bit up there it help mum and my gold bracelet turning black then would return to normal good old days
Naireen Bass
Yes, had quite a few swims in this pool back in those days.
Garry Cooke
Loved rolling in the snow then back in the pool.
Hazel Wilkes
Remember that well as a kid
John Patrick Ward
That’s how I remember it in the mid 60s when our family stayed there
Lyn Mallinson
I learnt to swim there. My mum would have a private pool as she couldn't swim and would just sit and bathe. I remember going over the swing bridge to a small natural pool, would that be correct, I was only about 6 years old, after swimming, it would be a raspberry and lemonade at the pub around the pot belly stove, dad would have a beer, great memories of the area
Rodney Burns Yes , that's right Lyn. It was great swimming in the hot pool with snow all around while Dad was in the bar.
Rodney Burns We are having a power cut in about 4 minutes until 4pm today.
Sandy Brears I was told that the wild pigs used to play on the warm water too
Dorothy Wills Swum in that pool many times in the 1960s Was a favourite place for the locals to have a nice warm swim and relax. My husband and I would have a drink in the bar and leave the children happily having a swim. We lived 30 miles(50 kms) away
Arthur Bass We used to go up there from Reefton as kids. Parents in the bar, kids in the pool. On the way home Dad would run over coons and Mossie Howard would jump out, skin the token back in and so on all the way home.
Bob Broadhurst Half a crown token from memory??? (two and six .... or 25 cents in today's language)..... i remember my old man taking the tokens as well
The ears and a 9 inch strip down the back i think constituted the token..... think this was so you couldn't sell the skin as well as the token wasn't it Arthur
Arthur Bass Bob Broadhurst that's right Bob. Good memory for an old bugger. Half a crown for shag feet and eel tails as well.
Dick Thomas Used to have the odd late night swim, on the way home from shooting. Eh guys
Manage
John Vasta We spent most of the time diving under the water back in the early 60s .No talk of amoebic meningitis in those days
Barbara Nieper Yes do remember the baths looking like this.
Irene Lines Remember bathing there with snow on the ground.
John Vasta We used to camp below the pools ,sit outside by our old caravan light a fire and cook bangers for tea while our parents got on the turps .those were the days .
Cherye Bradley Middleton We went there camping as kids
Clint Eves I remember the mid 1950's, hunting the tops across the old swingbridge, coming back down, covered in blood and mud, having a couple in the bar, then grabbing a bottle ( no stubbies then) of Monteith? Then lying in the hot pool soaking it all away, and repeat it again the next day. Them were the days, and being 21 was never questioned..
Robyn Halkett Clint Eves did you know Howard Robinson? He was culling deer then
Clint Eves Robyn Halkett the years I mention were meat hunting at weekends for the Hotels in Ch. Ch, used to get 5bob a pound for hind legs and back straps, this while I was waiting to grow up for the deerculling job, I was 16-17years old. But do not know the name, but yours seems to ring a bell?
Kevin Voigt i help pull these down and build new ones when sold to over seas consortium we couldnt break up old pool with 28 ton digger so fitted small pools in side it no shortage of cement when it was builtJohn Visser
I built the old Sluice Box Bridge on the Lake Daniels walk not far from here in the late 70s
Arthur Bass
John Visser did you manage to get any of the Sluice Box trout ? Legally.
John Visser
Arthur Bass no mate, didn't fish it just transported the bridge, assembled it and launched it into it's final position
Naireen Bass When it was still called M our a where, not Ma roo ee a
Linda Skelton Still is in our lot Naireen.
Naireen Bass Linda Skelton ,sure is.
Manage
Pip Watkins Loved going there back in the day.
Kevin Voigt pool built buy govt hotel private owend years 2 old maids owned it last i heard when work ing lewis rd was bought by japenese
2
Editing is temporarily disabled
Cancel EditClick on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
West Coast New Zealand History (14th Nov 2021). Hot springs Maruia 1950's. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 13th Apr 2026 20:11, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/28335