teambwr47

Bit cold to use the one in the garden so yesterday sought out the local council run leisure centre pool.....got a number from the local blue book and gave them a call thinking that the schools would have it all day like in the UK and then there may be an hour or so free in the evening....

Nope the pool is open until about 7pm and is free for public swimming all day

Enquired with nice lady on the phone about the cost for me and two kids....

"Free" she said.... Are you sure?

So off we go to the pool and it was quickly apparent as to why its available to the public all day....because there's two full size pools side by side (one reserved in lanes for 'proper' swimming, the other for messing about in and more relaxed swimming) with a toddlers pool next to that!!! And just to repeat 'its free'.

I thought this was maybe a one off but the girl at the desk who was British said it was free in all the council pools something she'd been surprised by as well when she first got here. The facilities and the number of staff on duty at the pool was first class and i've never seen a complex like it where we used live or anywhere nearby.

Big plus points from the kids point of view for NZ

karonious

Ours isn't free but at $4 per adult and $2 per child it is still cheaper than Britain Use a discount card and it comes down to $16 for 10 kid swims and $26 for 10 adult swims. And it is just 5 minutes walk away so really convenient as well.

SarahB

The pool I used to take DS to is free. I havnt been since Ive had bubba as I havnt been brave enough to go with both of them. The toddler pool is great and Im pretty sure my little girl will like it so maybe I will pluck up the courage to take them both soon.