Beaton Park Leisure Centre is a great alternative to a hard-sell fitness club for keeping fit and exercising when it suits you. There is a gym, a swimming pool heated to 28 degrees all year round, a spa pool and group classes of various sorts. The pool is good for lap swimming because there are plenty of times during the day when the lanes are not crowded. At $5.20 per visit it is a bit pricey when swimming laps means you're usually only there for half an hour but at the moment they have a promotion whereby you can pay $45 for unlimited use of the centre for 45 days (must start before end of March 2013). Otherwise you can buy visits in bulk which give you a small discount. Free parking is always available and the long opening hours are very user-friendly.

Approximate cost: $5.20