The Mountain of Love
In both name and in nature Te Aroha marks the spot for love.
As one of the proud māunga of Aotearoa, Te Aroha, which stands above the town of the same name, is a significant place. It is not only a beautiful mountain, but a beacon for its locals to remind themselves of where their home is.
Standing proudly 56 kilometres east of Hamilton, mount Te Aroha lays peacefully. With the Kaimai range parked alongside it, the mountain rises high above its neighbour. The town of Te Aroha was established in the 1870’s and is renowned for the Mokena Hou Geyser which rests at the base of the mountain. Fun fact: this is the only natural soda water geyser in the world. The mountain is special not only because of this geyser but because of its significance to its locals.
Grant Douglas has spent most of his life in and around the Te Aroha area. Douglas refers to Mount Te Aroha as the mountain of love, a direct reference to the English translation of māunga Te Aroha is translated in English to the mountain of love, hence where we get the nickname from.
“The town always seems to draw him back and that for him Mount Te Aroha is the X that marks the spot”.
Grant Douglas describing the feeling of where is home is.
As one of the first generations of his family born and raised in the area, he had a lot to say about why he finds the mountain significant and says he thinks many locals would feel the same way that he does. Douglas says that “the town always seems to draw him back and that for him Mount Te Aroha is the X that marks the spot”.
Douglas has two definitive memories of the māunga that hold significance for him. The first was a romantic proposal about how he proposed to his wife under a waterfall on Mount Te Aroha. The second was his recount of a summer job he did working on a water supply tank. Located on the side of the mountain Grant and a few of his college mates had to build a water tank on this water supply reservoir with no experience.
This is a mere fragment of the significance of Mount Te Aroha to the locals. In a general sense, everyone would have a place like Mount Te Aroha that would bear significance to them and have a special place in their heart.
