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Meet Brian Small, retired Methodist Minister and part owner of LJ’s Seafood in the Central Mall.
Thursday, 20 December 2018
Brian is one of the new guides to join our team of keen Outside the Walls Walking Tour guides. Brian found learning about the history of the development of Rotorua very interesting – The Fenton Agreement, the leasing of the land and the consequent loss of expected income affecting the…
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A Christmas in New Zealand, 1938
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
It is rare for a Museum to receive a whole record of one person’s Christmas holiday but that is what happened this year. Rotorua Museum was donated objects from an Australian visitor and the items came with a great story. They were collected by the donor’s mother, Helen Lawrie, when…
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International Volunteers Day
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
The 5th of December is Volunteers Day and we would like to mark the occasion by recognising a 3-year project recently completed by some of our Museum’s volunteers. Although the Museum has been closed, the work of the Collections team continues much as normal at the store which houses the…
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Meet Annie Thode a retired teacher and ex-Aucklander, who has joined our team of enthusiastic Outside the Walls Walking Tour guides.
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Annie and her husband run Rotorua Views Bed and Breakfast. Annie is so enthusiastic about her new home and all she has learned about the history of Rotorua and the Bath House that she encourages all her visitors to take a tour round the gardens with our Rotorua Museum guides.…
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Museum Project – Architects explain why the restoration is such a complex process
Friday, 23 November 2018
Matt and Bernard explain the complexities of working on one of the country’s iconic buildings, Rotorua Museum, two years after it closed its doors after the Kaikoura earthquake. They tell us why each design decision for the building has to be carefully researched and assessed. For more information about the…
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Museum Project – Architects explain their previous experience in working on Rotorua Museum
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
In recognition of two years since the Rotorua Museum closed its doors, Matt Davy and Bernard Needham tell us about their part in restoring the Bath House building, home to Rotorua Museum. DPA Architects worked on alterations to the museum in 1997 while Bernard tells us about his first visit…
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Museum Project – Hear from the architects about why they were keen to be involved in this project
Sunday, 18 November 2018
Today marks two years since the closure of the Rotorua Museum doors following the Kaikoura earthquake. Architects, Matt and Bernard, who’ve been appointed to help with restoring the Museum’s heritage Bath Housing building, tell us why they wanted to be involved. You can find out what’s happened over the past…
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Lynn Gillespie
Monday, 29 October 2018
Meet Lynn Gillespie,a retired teacher, who has joined our team of enthusiastic ‘Outside the Walls’ Walking Tour guides. While the closure of the Bath House has dealt a huge blow to Rotorua, I can see a positive; the ‘Outside the Walls’ tours give visitors and locals an opportunity they wouldn’t…
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A rich history of Royal visitors to Rotorua
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Rotorua has a long history of putting on a good spread and a good show for members of the royal family. Rotorua has warmly welcomed the following royal family members: 1870 The Duke of Edinburgh 1901 The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen…
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Neila Blackmore
Friday, 28 September 2018
Meet Neila Blackmore, one of our enthusiastic new Outside the Walls Walking Tour guides. Before undertaking her guide training, Neila thought she knew all about the Government Gardens. From her home in Pūkaki St, and her parents restaurant, The Empire, the gardens were Neila’s playground. Here is her story. Although…