Almost there! Check your email inbox to finalise email verification. You'll then be asked to choose a password so you can log in to The Spinoff. January 23, 2021 The rise and fall of New Zealand’s largest water park How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did this small town just over the hill from Orewa become home to a nationally famous attraction, and what caused it to be abandoned and left derelict?