BRITISH EMPIRE SPAS

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 9

BRITISH EMPIRE SPAS

LECTURE GIVEN IN LONDON. PRAISE OF NEW ZEALAND. London, December 20. A lecture was given by Dr. R. F. Fox at the Royal Empire Society on the subject °f the British health resorts. Having reviewed the characteristics of the British spas under the tonic effect of . a northern insular climate, the lecturer gave some accounts of the spas and seaside resorts of the British Commonwealth. It was interesting, he said,that everywhere the original inhabitants had always made use of the hot springs and in many places still did so; they had even fought battles for - their possession.' Medicinal waters were numerous, but with notable exceptions little medical use was made of them. “New Zealand showed a bright example in the development of the spas as a national, asset,” continued Dr. Fox. “Rotorua, 1000 ft. above the sea, amid the volcanoes of the North .Island, is the most famous spa in the Southern Hemisphere. It has hot acid and alkaline ■waters, and volcanic muds, mainly for external use, and reports show that their value in rheumatic diseases of the soft tissues can be attributed to their influence upon the circulation.' Since the war the Government sanatorium has served for civilian cases sent up from the hospitals. Not far from Rotorua, on the coast, is Te Aroha, with an alkaline water not found elsewhere in British possessions. Hanmer has gaseous thermal waters, and another Government sanatorium.

“As elsewhere, there has been a great movement to the sea in recent years. Attractive seaside resorts are springing up, such as those near Auckland, and, in the South Island, Marlborough Sounds, Kaikoura, and the Terakohe Beach at Nelson. New Brighton and the Sumner Beach at Christchurch are among the best surf-bathing centres in the world. Popular lake-bathing resorts are also growing up among the mountains and lochs of this island.” ,