The Big Splash adrenaline ride Rotorua New Zealand

Leave it to the Kiwis to come up with a truly exciting and adrenaline-boosting ‘theme park’ ride that leaves a visitor with both the heart and the brain working overtime.  The Big Splash that opened last Friday (20 January) at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua is beautifully designed to do just that.

Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park opened in 1932 as a wildlife conservation project, and generations of Kiwi children know it as the place to see kiwi and tuatara and feed the trout.  Big Splash is the result of a project costing NZ$10 million, the biggest investment in the park’s history, and arguably the best.

The ride takes nine minutes, mostly on a gentle boat ride through New Zealand’s ecological history, from prehistoric times through the present.  From the first resident dinosaurs, through the arrival of humans from Polynesia and then Europe, and the impact each had on the environment, it provides a fascinating narrative and impressive technology including state-of-the-art animatronics to bring that history to life.

To bring you back to the present with a mighty splash, the finale is a 12-metre, 4-second plunge that’s reportedly guaranteed to raise your ‘consciousness’ and get you good and wet.  The Big Splash is included in the price of park admission and there’s no limit to how many times you can ride.

Waterslide thrill
Big Splash can cater for 500 tourists per hour with a fleet of eight-seater boats that depart every minute.

The boats travel through a native forest canopy, past a Maori pa settlement and a European timber mill town. Life-sized moa, Haast eagle and dinosaur models inhabit the dense one-hectare forest which has been populated with 7000 native trees and plants to represent how Aotearoa New Zealand once was.

An onboard commentary interprets the arrival, and later destruction, of native bird and plant species as the land is settled and exploited by the human settlers arriving from the Pacific Islands and Europe

The gentle boat journey ends with a 12-metre drop on the waterslide.Access to the ride is included as part of the Rainbow Springs admission price, and it operates daily between 9am and 5pm.

Conservation role
Big Splash offers an appropriate addition to Rainbow Springs Wildlife Park, which plays a strong conservation role as a breeding centre for the unique tuatara – a curious lizard-like reptile with origins in the dinosaur age – and New Zealand’s most prolific brown kiwi hatchery.

The ride is expected to be a major draw-card for Rotorua, giving international and local visitors an exciting and unique insight into New Zealand history and culture

Free-flight bird show
Shows in the new free-flight bird auditorium are scheduled to take flight in March.

The show will feature a flock of exotic birds that are currently in training. Some native birds will also be involved in the show at a later date.

Rainbow Springs attractions include tours of the Kiwi Encounter nursery and hatchery (open 10am – 4pm daily), the fascinating tuatara, walking and bird spotting in the extensive native and exotic forest, and feeding wild trout in the Rainbow Pool.

Background: Rainbow Springs

Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park – an award-winning tourism attraction and an icon of New Zealand tourism – first opened near Rotorua in 1932.

Spread over a 22-acre park with a natural fresh water spring, Rainbow Springs is a conservation and breeding haven for endangered New Zealand species such as kiwi and tuatara.

The park offers a unique wildlife experience for visitors, who can see animals in their natural environment, both during the day and night.

Attractions include New Zealand’s first ‘open to view’ Kiwi hatchery, and a range of wildlife including trout, tuatara and native birds.

The park became involved in kiwi conservation in 1995 with the arrival of an orphaned egg, and the hatchery is now the largest kiwi hatching facility in New Zealand. Eggs are harvested in 13 areas around the North Island where brown kiwi are found.

The park is open for day and night experiences including evening strolls and a hosted dinner activity. Clever night time lighting enhances the evening experience.

Visitors can view adult birds foraging and feeding in a purpose-built nocturnal Kiwi House, or see conservation work in progress and learn more about the iconic bird in the Kiwi Encounter hatchery and nursery.