Eerie footage show Waiwera Hot Pools in decrepit state

The once-popular Waiwera Thermal Resort hot pools have been left in a decrepit state after the tourist attraction's abrupt closure.

Earlier this month Auckland videographer David flew his drone up over the thermal resort in the hope of exploring the water park he had many childhood memories in.

But when he saw the footage, it left him depressed, describing the resort's state as "bleak".

Photo / Derelict NZ

"I used to go there a lot as a child. I wanted to look at what it's like now. I was quite excited to see what's up there but it was rather depressing to see what it has become now.

"It was not what I was expecting. I thought there were going to be more slides and pools. It's smaller than I thought," he told the Herald.

"It's pretty bleak."

Photo / Derelict NZ

Once New Zealand's largest water park, the footage shows Waiwera looking like a grey, dim concrete jungle.

Decaying rides are visible while the waterslides have become discoloured and dismantled with yellowy-brown murky water collecting in empty pools.

Photo / Derelict NZ

The roof to the old movie-theatre pool has been removed, and dismantled slides are seen sitting collecting moss and debris on the grass.

The iconic Waiwera hot pool complex closed its doors for a $3 million renovation in February 2018 but has never reopened.

Instead, the past two years has seen court battles over rent and trademarks, liquidations, cancelled leases, and a realisation that the damage to the infrastructure of the 50-year-old water park is so bad almost nothing is salvageable.

First set up in 1848, Waiwera was New Zealand's first tourist spa. It was fully commercialised in 1875 and at its peak had 350,000 visitors a year.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.