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How to Build a Bath House: designing and building the Rotorua Bath House 1902-1908
Sunday, 13 August 2017
The grand old bathhouse presides over the Government Gardens; its central tower rises out of the ground with its wings outstretched to embrace the surrounding landscape. 109 years ago the designers and architects of the Rotorua Bath House could not have foreseen the extent of discussion, debate and changes to…
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Te ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Māori Language Week
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Kia ōrāna, This blog is the second in our journey of 2017 Pacific Language Weeks. This week is Cook Islands Māori Language Week and the theme is “`Ei rāvenga nāku i te tuatua i tōku reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani ka anoano au i te turuturu ā tōku ngutu`are tangata `ē…
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Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2017: Entries Closing Soon
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Have you got your entry in for the Rotorua Museum Art Awards? Applications close on 11 August so you’d better be in quick. And to help you find some creative inspiration, we’re taking a look back at some of the winning works from our collection. After a 10 year hiatus,…
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A mystery photographer on the Rotorua tour
Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Rotorua Museum has a collection of about 40 glass plate negatives all taken by an unidentified photographer between January and March 1912. They show groups of tourists, all in their heavy Edwardian clothing in the summer heat. Some are standing on Hinemoa’s Steps taking in the sights of Okere Falls, or…
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Big Red – New Zealand’s endangered Pōhutukawa
Tuesday, 4 July 2017
In 2003 Rotorua Museum opened their exhibition called Big Red – celebrating the pōhutukawa. It marked 11 years of Project Crimson, a community-based project to save the endangered tree. Back then the main dangers for the pōhutukawa were possums and humans. Today Project Crimson is 27 years old, and there…
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Māori All Blacks: Looking Back at One of Our Own
Thursday, 15 June 2017
Rotorua is home to a number of Māori All Black greats. With the 2017 Māori All Black squad in town, we thought we would look back at one of our own: Hector Archibald Steele (1915-1990). Hector, known as Heke, was the youngest son of Duncan and Ngaroma Steele who both…
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Tarawera Sausages
Saturday, 10 June 2017
The Tarawera eruption On 10 June 1886 at about 2am an eruption of great magnitude occurred in the Rotorua region. It was Mount Tarawera, just 24km from the town. The eruption lasted 6 hours and consisted of lightning, earthquakes and molten rocks which were thrown into the air along with…
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Norma Evans (1927 – 2017) – loss of a true Rotorua icon
Wednesday, 19 April 2017
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Norma Evans (1927-2017) – the loss of a true Rotorua icon. Born in Invercargill on 27 May 1927, Norma Mae Jackson was brought up in Kurow, Central Otago, in a family steeped in the ‘making-do’ tradition. Her mother and…
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Featured Collection Item – WWI Victory Medal Awarded to Ohinemutu man
Thursday, 10 November 2016
When the Rotorua RSA closed its doors in 2015, there were real fears many items in the collection would end up outside Rotorua or worse yet, outside the country. RECT to the Rescue Thanks to Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust (RECT) three hundred pieces of valuable memorabilia will now stay in…
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Featured Collection Item – Jean Batten ‘Hine-o-te-Rangi’
Friday, 14 October 2016
Jean Batten was and remains New Zealand’s greatest aviator. Famous the world over for her heroic solo flights, she garnered many names ‘the Garbo of the skies’ and in closer reference to home ‘Hine o te Rangi’ ‘daughter of the skies’. A life of public fame and adoration followed by…
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Rotorua Museum is closed while detailed earthquake assessment is completed.
