Accommodating Spa visitors became major occupation With the Gordon family now in Te Puia, construction of a track from Waipiro Bay to the Te Puia site resulted in a steady increase in the number of visitors to the springs, and this process brought up the need for accommodation for visitors. In those days, just before the turn of the century, East Coast traffic depended largely upon the sea, and reliable anchorages for the coasters were few and far between. Tokomaru Bay was not yet available as a cargo port, and travellers who called there were obliged to re-embark without seeing much of the interior. The Maungahauini Gorge was an almost insuperable barrier to overland access for Te Puia. The connection by way of Waipiro Bay, though steep and lengthy, was a negotiable route,and most of the sea traffic along the East Coast was handled by the Waipiro beach. A journey from Waipiro Bay to Te Puia and return was longer than most people cared to tackle, and the Gordon parents were encouraged by the Maori owners of the block to feed and bed visitors. In compliance with this proposal, the Gordons built a home adjacent to the point at which two streams, one hot and other cold, came to the surface. They had their horses and a few head of stock on the land, also by permission. VISITORS INCREASING All this development took place just prior to 1900, when the virtues of the thermal waters were winning wider recognition and attracting more and more visitors to the spa. Then came a demand that the family clear their livestock off the land. This demand came not from the Maori owners, but from the manager of a nearby station, who represented that his principal had the grazing rights. This claim was firmly rejected by the Maori owners, who subsequently nominted Mr and Mrs Gordon as occupants of the property. With this encouragement the Gordons were persuaded to make better provision for travellers. More and more people came too test the curative value of the waters, and the Gordon home grew to the status of an eight room house which some time later they received authority to conduct as an accommadation house. This authority was not established without argument from Europeans who had come to appreciate what the accommodation house could mean to that portion of the East Coast. WELL LIKED But by this time the Gordons were well known and well liked by Europeans as well as by their original sponsors among the Waiaou Maori people. They had friends in high places who assured them of a fair hearing, and even initiated action to maintain the Gordon rights. On the occasion of the first challenge the wishes of Waipau people were canvassed by a party appointed by the Government to investigate the need for an accommodation house at Te Puia. Sir James Carroll was a member of the party, andit was his mana that backed up the Gordons nomination. In due course, there came to Te Puia a document establishing Mr and Mrs Gordon as proprietors of the accommodation house. It carried a signature to end all arguments, that of Richard John Seddon. TENURE ASSURED When their tenure was assured they erected a modest timber residence. It was the first European building on the site. The structure included rooms which could accommodate one or two visitors to the spa, but in later years, following the successful outcome of an argument with the European manager of a nearby property and a strong recommendation from the Maori owners, the Gordon parents were appointed by the Government to maintain an accommodation house. This meant further extensions of the premises, and Thomas Gordon, an experienced bushman, undertook the production of sawn timber for the purpose. Since it was proposed to add several rooms, his undertaking was a fairly tough one. TOUGH SAWING JOB There was timber in the trees at no great distance from the Gordon home, but it had to be felled andpit sawn to required measurements. This sawing was a two man job, and involed one sawyer taking his stance in the pit. As the expect, Tom Gordon was in charge of the job; his difficulty was that he could not find a mate willing to work in the pitt. The Gordons decided that this job would have to be sone by the family, and Harry, as its youngest and most available member, was nominated to take the upper berth, while Tom went to the lower. The additions planned at the Gordon home at the spa comprised 14 rooms, each 12ft square. They absorbed a substantial amount of timber, but neither of the sawyers balked right through to the finish. Every beam and plank in the additions was turned out by the pit saw, and from the pit the sawn planks and beams were snigged to the building site. There they were trimmed by jack-plane on surfaces which were to be exposed. Proud to have seen the job compeleted, Harry Gordon never the less decided to seek less arduous employment from that time on. There were not many occupations as tough as bush carpentry, he realised.