I have a great story to tell about Miranda Hot Pools. We went to Miranda Hot Pools on our way home from an epic birthday long weekend in Tauranga with the kids and had a ball. I was reminded of the first time I went there with James and I thought that maybe before I tell the story of our visit I should tell that story first….
It harks back to when James and I had first got together. We’d only been together a couple of months and it was James daughter Kiki’s 7th birthday and they’d planned to have it at Miranda Hot Pools. Me and my two girls had gone down to stay the night at James and it had gone the way it tended to go a lot of the time when we first got together – mostly badly, but a few glimmers of hope.
City kids and country kids colliding. All fighting for our attention and fighting against change. It was the first awful, first year blending birthday experience. But it wouldn’t be the last and we would learn over time that these were the family traditions that we were building as we blundered our way through building a family.
But back to Miranda Hot Pools. I was particularly nervous because Kiki’s Mum would be coming to her birthday and I’d only met her a few times. I was even more nervous because James ex girlfriend (Kiki’s former step Mum) would also be there. It says a lot about James that he is still friends with his exes and wanted them there for Kiki. It’s one of the things I love about him.
But regardless there is nothing that makes an awkward situation more awkward than everyone being in togs!
So here we were at Miranda Hot Pools. Me, the mother of my boyfriends child and his ex-girlfriend all bobbing around in the hot mineral waters of Miranda Hot Pools. I had no idea what to do. How the kids would handle it or what to say. And then it all kind of unfolded. I looked around and the kids were laughing and jumping from ex to ex. They didn’t care at all. And suddenly, neither did I.
Miranda Hot Pools is just that kind of place that strips out every bit of pretension from a situation because it has absolutely none itself. I can’t imagine this same scenario at a fancy cafe.
It is unashamedly from another era. A simpler time where life was pretty choice if you had a huge pool, some hot chips and an ice cream.
I kind of love that nothing has been updated (although the maintenance is all done and it’s nice and clean). I want something that is just exactly the same as when I went there as a child.
And it’s huge! You can go for miles without bumping into anyone (especially on a Monday in September). And the mineral water feels so lovely and the temperature is just perfect.
So next time you want to break down barriers or just go back to a simpler time in life, head on down to Miranda for the afternoon (and while you are there check out the Seabird Coast too).
