Parakai Springs

I’m not a swimmer or a water person. I sort of just waddle around, spend heaps of time on the slide and eat endless amounts of hot chips. I remember going to Parakai on a school trip in year 8. The sun was shinning and the weather it was amazing. It was great fun standing in a long line for the slide then getting on the slide and screaming so loud as you went down. We had loads of competitions like who can swim the fastest, who can keep their head under water the longest. I haven’t been back to Parakai since then but it’s a place I would take the young ones to enjoy themselves.

There’s an urban legend about Parakai that involves a woman squeezing the pus out of pimples on her man’s back while sitting in a hot pool. I almost feel like I have seen it happen myself because I actually think I did. In the really hot adults-​only pool. Anyway, such are the risks you take when sharing water with others. Ergh.
The whole place has hardly changed in years and has a slightly sad faded feel about it which does nothing to deter the masses from descending, particular on chilly Winter’s days. The slides are pretty rough but the kids think that’s a good thing (uh huh) and the facilities in general are just a bit dilapidated. Still, it’s so wholeheartedly Kiwi that you just gotta love it.
I remember we used to have friends who would take their campervan to Helensville (the whole 40 minute drive from home) and camp at the campground here, which is part of the Springs complex. I was so jealous. Now I’m not really sure why you would — it’s nice and green enough but there’s better places. Still, like I said, it’s classic Noo Zilland.

I hadn’t been to Parakai since the last year of High School which was over 10 years back, so was looking forward to seeing if anything had changed since my last visit. Other than possibly redoing the reception, and maybe café area, I don’t think a lot has changed since I last swam here.
I did have a blast coming down the hydro slides with the kids on the mats provided; however I’m sure the owners could possibly put a bit more money in sprucing up the facilities and particularly the padding on the stairs up to the top as it looks a bit tired in places.
The hot pool inside is great, and had it been a colder time of year I would of spent more time inside, however it was sweltering hot, so I had a quick splash and spent more time in the sun, and riding the slide.
It felt like the busiest Saturday ever, 100’s packed in to the springs, and the pool was a sea of faces– quite fun, but also hard to enjoy your own space really.
I would recommend trying the pools out on a week day, when the kids at school next time.

There’s two hyrdoslides here. Old-​school ones, with ridges that are slightly uncomfortable if you lose your mat, and fast enough that you get dumped in the pool at the end, and enough twists and turns to rekindle that old fear of people stopping ahead of you in the tunnel and jumping on you as you whizz past. (To be fair, this has never happened to me here, and they are well supervised by the staff; it’s just an old tale that that’s what happens in hydroslides.)
Parakai is not, by any means, a flashy place, but that really is its charm: there’s a large outdoor pool, and a smaller indoor one which is mainly populated by smaller children, and lots of park space and BBQ areas. There’s also private spas and saunas, which are thankfully removed from the busyness of the main pool areas, and the spas are only an extra $ 5 per person on top of the entry fee, which is a good deal.
The water for the pools is pumped from the Parakai Spring, but it is treated with chlorine, which is necessary for such a busy facility, so it’s not «natural» spring water; but, let’s be honest, we’re all here for the slides.