5. Wai-ā-hopa – Priest Pool

In 1878 Father Mahoney, a Catholic Priest from Tauranga had suffered and become disabled with arthritis. He was then carried to Rotorua to bathe in a waiariki (spring) known by the Arawa people as Te Pupūnitanga.

After soaking in its healing waters, he was able to walk back to Tauranga. From that day the pool became known as the ‘Priest’s Bath’.

The healing waters of the Priest Bath was recommended as the most valuable bathing treatment for arthritis, rheumatism and nervous disorders.