Kuirau Park Playground sits inside New Zealand's only free public geothermal park, a large play area with steaming vents and bubbling mud pools as its everyday backdrop rather than added scenery.
Equipment
Equipment includes slides, standard and infant swings, a multi play structure with slide, a supernova spinner, a separate multi play climbing structure, a solo spinner, and a climbing net, all on artificial surfacing across a large play zone. The playground sits on the main lawn, well clear of the park's active vent zones.
The geothermal setting
Kuirau Park is a live volcanic feature, not merely a backdrop. On 26 January 2001 Spring 721 erupted in the largest hydrothermal blast at the park since 1966, throwing rock up to a metre wide more than 50 metres from the vent, and further eruptions in November 2003 sent mud, rock and ash 14 metres into the air. The park is safely managed year round, and the Kuirau Lake boardwalk at the northern end remains freely accessible alongside the steaming vents and mud pools.
History and Cultural
Kuirau Park was gifted to Rotorua by Ngati Whakaue in the late 19th century. Its name traces to Maori tradition: Kuiarau was a woman said to have been taken by a spirit from the lake, and the gods, angered, made the waters boil in response. Since at least 1300 AD Maori have used the geothermal springs here for cooking, including boiling freshwater mussels in the clear alkaline pools.
Practical
Toilets, a drinking fountain, a barbecue and picnic tables are on site, with street parking on Kuirau Street, and a Saturday morning market runs in the wider park.
