Rotorua History

Pre 20th Century

The Rotorua district was first settled in the 14th century when the canoe Te Arawa, captained by Tamatekapua, arrived from Hawaiki at Maketu in the central Bay of Plenty. The settlers took the tribal name Te Arawa to commemorate the vessel that had safely brought them so far. Much of the inland forest was explored by Tamatekapua's grandson, Ihenga, who also named many geographical features of the area. The name Rotorua means 'The Second Lake' (roto means 'lake' and rua 'two'), as it was the second lake that Ihenga discovered.

In the next few hundred years, various subtribes spread through the area and, as they grew in number, split into more subtribes and conflicts broke out over territory. In 1823 the Arawa lands were invaded by Northland's Ngapuhi chief, Hongi Hika, in the so-called Musket Wars. Both the Arawa and the Northlanders suffered heavy losses and the Ngapuhi eventually withdrew. During the Waikato Land War (1863-67), the Arawa tribe threw in their lot with the government against their traditional enemies in the Waikato, gaining the backing of its troops and preventing East Coast reinforcements getting through to support the Maori King Movement.

With peace returning in the early 1870s, European settlement around Rotorua really took off. The army and government personnel involved in the war helped broadcast the scenic wonders of the place. People came to take the waters in the hope of cures for all sorts of diseases, and Rotorua's tourist industry was thus founded. The town's main attraction was the fabulous Pink and White Terraces, formed by the sinter deposits of silica from volcanic activity. Touted at the time as the eighth natural wonder of the world, they were destroyed in the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption.

Modern

The early part of the 20th century set the cogs of tourism in motion with the creation of the Bath House, an investment designed to tempt wealthy northern hemisphere patrons to the 'Great South Seas Spa'. The city's population greatly increased thanks to tourism and the burgeoning industries of agriculture, forestry and manufacturing.

Rotorua was home to Jean Batten, a pilot who set many record flights, among them becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia and back in 1935.

Recent

Having been judged New Zealand's most beautiful city in 1999, 2000 and 2002, Rotorua today is thriving, buoyed by the huge influx of tourists. The new millennium has seen the city blossom with strong improvements in facilities and attractions thanks to the rocketing tourist dollar.