What's steamy, noisy, and full of happy kids?
The Whangarei Aquatic Centre, which opened with triple the attendance of an average weekend, that's what.
The newly opened pools have proved to be a popular destination, with visitor numbers more than six times those of previous weekends.
Around 2500 people went through the doors
over the weekend, many more than the previous average weekend attendance of about 400, Aquatic Centre manager Bobbie Kitt said.
Ms Kitt expects the attendance to remain as high for the remainder of the school holidays.
"We'll probably have a similar number of people in here every day," she said. "I'd guess it would be more by the end of the holidays, though."
The wave pool and the hydroslides were clearly the big attractions with the kids, with the queue for the hydroslides beginning 35 minutes before opening yesterday afternoon.
Ms Kitt has barely had a moment to catch her breath since the complex opened to the public last Thursday, with her staff - including 11 new lifeguards - kept busy from the moment the centre opened.
The new family area reached its maximum capacity of 350 people on Sunday, meaning a rotating system had to be used at the door.
"We could only let people in once others left," Ms Kitt said. "It's frantic but I'm having a great time."
The renovations to th aquatic centre have been in the pipeline for six years, and building began in January 2006. The $10 million project came in just under budget, but took a little longer than expected to complete.
The new complex has a tots pool, spa pool, wave pool and hydrotherapy pool, which hold a combined volume of 765,000 litres of water.
The closure of the old complex did not please some swimmers, as clubs bemoaned the removal of a 50m pool. However Sport Northland bosses insist that the recreational aspect of the pool complex was in response to what the public were looking for in the revamp.
• Charges at the new complex will be $2.40 for adults and $1.30 for children until October 31. Prices will then increase to $6 for adults and $4 for children.
