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12/4/2016 Part 4: Rainbow's End - November 5, 2016 For our last day in New Zealand, we made our way to Manukau to visit New Zealand's largest theme park, Rainbow's End. Now by comparison to many American parks, this place is tiny. It does, however, have some really unique rides that make it worth a stop when visiting Auckland. To get to the park, we first went to Britomart Station, and hopped on the train to Manukau.  After arriving to the Manukau station, it's just a bit of a walk to arrive to Rainbow's End. 
Our first ride of the day was the Stratosfear. A fairly large spinning pendulum ride. Unlike most others of its style, this one gives you the choice of two different experiences with a tamer version that spins lightly and swings to only 45 degrees. The more intense version takes you all the way around and upside-down while spinning faster.      Our first coaster of the trip and first in New Zealand was the Gold Rush, a quirky, in-house designed wild mouse like coaster. It has a mix of indoor and outdoor segments with some decent themeing, and has a very unique layout that covers a large piece park property along with the log flume.    
  Next up, we rode the Enchanted Forest log flume. Much like Gold Rush, this was also a really quirky yet fun ride. This flume had a theme that was a combination of fairies and pirates which didn't exactly flow together, but it was a fairly long ride time.        Now, if you're not sure of what to do next, Rainbow's End has a sign with a spinning wheel that can give you a suggestion of what to do next, such as one of the other big rides like the Invader or Power Surge.
 We, on the other hand, decided to ride our next coaster in the park, the Corkscrew. A classic Arrow Loop & Screw that sits in the far end of the park, it is the biggest coaster in New Zealand. This was the first of this model that I have seen to only have a five car train.    
  The last coaster of the park, the Choco Express, is their junior coaster. Phillip decided to pass on this one while I went ahead for the credit.    It is part of their children's ride section, Kidz Kingdom. This area happens to be covered for the sake of providing shade, which I think is a brilliant thing to do in case of hot sunny weather. Fortunately the weather was quite pleasant for our visit.   We also got to experience their motion simulator ride, which was featuring a film called Pirates Rapids. The film had you on a "simulated water slide" gone bad as you fly off of the main slide and into a world filled with pirates. It was kooky, and the seats moved with the fluidity of being in bumper cars. I'll at least give the park credit for trying to add a unique ride you don't often find at smaller parks.   Our last ride before making our way back into Auckland was the Fear Fall. An Intamin Drop Tower that is always a favorite of mine at any park. 
On the way to the gate, we noticed this sign advertising a new ride, and while we didn't think to ask about it, we did see some construction nearby, and wondered if that might have been the area in which the new ride would go.     As you head out, like many theme parks, you will find a gift shop at the exit. This gift shop, seemed to have more of a variety of familiar characters for their plush toys.    There are also a variety of snack items available to purchase, including what would become a favorite from New Zealand, these bacon flavored cheese puffs.
And with that, we finish our visit to Rainbow's End. A small, yet enjoyable park with some unique rides as well as some favorites. If you find yourself visiting Auckland, I would say that it is worth taking part of a day to wonder over for a while.  That will conclude the Auckland portion of this trip. Next, Phillip and I make our way over to Sydney to begin our time in Australia! |
