Splash Planet open this Monday!

The pools are full; the annual painting marathon has been completed; the café food has been ordered; the gardener has put the final touches to the gardens – and the staff has mushroomed from five to 80.

It is almost time for the summer season of Splash Planet to kick off – Monday, November 16 is the first day of the season.

Manager Peran Hutchings is expecting a very big season. The forecast is for the hottest and longest summer in nearly 20 years. An average of 100,000 people make use of the facility in a season, and he is not prepared to hazard a guess over what that number will be this summer.

“It’s going to be a long, hot summer; forecasted to be the hottest since 1997, so we’re expecting lots of people to be in here cooling off.”

There is a truckload of things to do at the theme park, from the obvious, swimming, to kayaking, bumper boats, train rides, go-karting, mini golf, volleyball, and the flying fox.

And then there are the slides, all five of the: the Master Blaster, the Sky Castle Screamer, the Sky Tunnel, the Super Cruiser and the Double Dipper.

For those who like their water warm or have littlies, there are the toddlers’ pools inside and out, and indoor heated swimming pools.

It takes a great deal of planning and co-ordination to get the near 15-acre theme park ready for its four month season. Hawke’s Bay’s sun punishes the paint work on everything from rides to the picnic tables so it’s a constant task to keep everything fresh.

Signs and shade canopies are removed out of season to protect them from the elements so they have to be pulled out of storage and re-erected.

The extensive gardens and lawns need continuous care to keep them in order, the pools, empty over the winter, have to be scrubbed and refilled, and then there are the new touches that make heading back to the facility after an off-season a real treat.

This year the mini-putt has been refreshed with a Alice in Wonderland theme – complete with the iconic cup and saucer, the Cheshire cat, a deck of cards character, and a “down-the-rabbit-hole” golf shot. One of the must sees, especially for pre-schoolers, will be the transformation of one of the mature trees into a “fairy tree”.

The residents’ club card is again available. For $17 a season a ratepayer and nine others can get into the pools (and take all the rides) for $17 an adult and $11 a child – a saving of $11 per trip for an adult and $7 for a child. To register see: splashplanet.co.nz. or in person from Splash Planet from the 16th November.

Of course many people have been asking what will be replacing the old Fantasyland Pirate Ship, lost to the actions of a pair of arsonists over the winter. Mr Hutchings plans to put a range of options to facility users over the summer to get their feedback, with the outcome of the consultation leading to a winter project to put in the new attraction.   

4 October 2017

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