Rotorua Museum / Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa

The Tudor-style building with its jagged gables and half-timbered walls sits amidst the volcanic steam of Government Gardens. Originally opened in nineteen oh eight as a bathhouse, it promised a cure for ailments through the hot mineral springs beneath the earth. Arthur Harvey-Kirk, a local resident, arrived in nineteen twenty-four hoping the sulfurous waters would heal his paralyzed legs. He left his wheelchair behind in the lobby, claiming he could walk again, and that chair stayed on display for decades afterward.