What it is
In 1880 Ngāti Whakaue leaders agreed with the government to set aside land on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua for the new township, gifting some 50 acres for the benefit of people everywhere. The former Sanatorium Reserve became the Government Gardens, laid out around the spa buildings that made Rotorua New Zealand's first tourist resort.
The gardens are dominated by the half-timbered Bath House of 1908, which housed the Rotorua Museum, and by the Blue Baths, a Spanish Mission-style bathhouse opened in 1933. Between them lie lawns, flower beds, croquet and bowling greens and walking paths, with steaming vents and the lake shore along the edges.
Getting there by bus
The gardens are a short walk from the city centre interchange. Rotorua CBD - Arawa Street (stop 3003), about 490 metres away, is served by routes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, and the same routes stop at Fenton Street - Fronting No. 1231 (stop 3042), about 420 metres away, roughly five minutes on foot.
The Rotorua I-Site stop (stop 3195), about 370 metres away, is used by the regional routes 15 and 15a from Murupara and Ruatahuna.
