Our Story
Sourced from the Mountains. Powered by the Sun - Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa are proud to be the first thermal solar powered hot pools in the world.
Our story starts when a local business owner, Dave Dynes had an idea to put hot pools into Methven. He, along with other Methven locals started Methven Hot Pools Ltd (MHP) in 2012 and attained the rights to buy the land, commissioned important feasibility reports and gained consent to build.
In 2016, Methven Adventures Ltd (MAL) formed by James McKenzie, Lloyd Robinson and Andrew Cartwright, and bought the rights to continue the project from MHP.
With spectacular views of the Southern Alps, guests immerse into beautiful clean water originally glacial melt, with the knowledge that our build and day to day processes are drawn from the “clean green” principles of sustainable operations as well as the story of Ranginui and Papatuanuku (Sky Father and Earth Mother) and tikanga Māori. Our Ōpuke promise: “Sourced from the mountains, powered by the sun” embodies the most compelling attributes of our region, and combines a unique, sustainable, and premium experience.
Sourced from the mountains
Ōpuke sources water from the Rangitata River that is fed by the glacial melt water emerging from the spectacular Southern Alps. Our industry-leading water-treatment system ensures exceptional purity of our bathing water.
Powered by the sun
A large array of solar thermal collector panels, occupying approximately a quarter of the site, serves as the primary pool water heating system – even on the shortest day in winter, 100% of the pool heating load is met by the solar array (when the sun is out!). Every evening, pool water is transferred to insulated holding tanks outside of operating hours to minimise heat losses. Every morning, the pools are re-filled through state of the art push button technology.
