Hamilton has a lake

A DigitalNZ Story by Robyn Gallagher

If you think about a body of water and Hamilton, you'd probably think about the mighty Waikato River. But Hamilton has a lake. Lake Rotoroa spans over 54 hectares (about half the size of Lake Pupuke) and is pretty shallow, averaging only 2.4m. Rotoroa means "long lake" in Maori, but when I was a kid, it was rumoured to mean "eel lake". Hamilton Lake used to be a prime swimming spot. For a city with so much water, the Waikato River didn't provide any safe swimming spots (unless you were willing to chance it at the Wellington Street "beach"), so in the early-mid 20th century, the lake was the. Families flocked to the sandy shore, with a concrete playground for the non-swimming kids, changing sheds, an emergency alert bell, and a refreshment kiosk. But, guys, all that is gone. From the mid-1950s, the oxygen weed of the lake started to get overpowered by phytoplankton. At one point the army was called in to get rid of the rogue algae, but without any long-term impact. No one - not even DOC - knows why the lake is changing, but it's happened to other similar lakes in the Waikato. And no one's sure what to do about it. The quality of the water has changed, from clear-ish to a muddy brown. The lake isn't fit for swimming anymore, with large boulders dumped on the main beach area to dissuade visitors from swimming. The changing sheds now exist as open-sided shelter from the sun, the distress bell is long gone. The kiosk has been replaced with a grand cafe and "function centre" called The Verandah, stuck with the sort of name you'd expect at a provincial pub/cafe because it has a large veranda. And the '50s style children's playground has gone, including the concrete igloo that always rewarded kiddie adventurers with the smell of stale wee in warm core. But the lake is still quite nice. There are modern playgrounds that look much more fun and less terrifying than the olden ones. And there are still plenty of nooks and crannies to explore - the former golf course, the former miniature railway and the (still existing) old steam train. And then there's the lake. It's still really pleasant to walk around it and enjoy both the fuzzy memories of the past and the splendour of the present.

Hamilton Lake, Lake Rotoroa