While Rotorua is principally renowned for its bubbles, smells, hot water plumes and things that go bang, it has plenty of other attractions, which we sampled. Bec and Max went zorbing with me tagging along as official photographer. Never heard of it. Well basically one climbs into a large perspex balls which then rolls down with you inside clad in as little as possible because water acts as a lubricant to save you from (a) spending too much time upside down and (b) grazing oneself in the device.
One could come down a zig-zag course, which slower and more gentle or faster in a straight line.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Here's Max jumping for joy after his first zig-zag run, Bec coming down inside her ball, exiting excitedly, and then jumping ecstatically for the camera!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Soon after the zorbing we found ourselves in a gondola car rising high above Rototua with lovely views of the town and lake.
.jpg)
At the top we donned headgear and headed for the Luge. This was not a snowy job but rather a downhill run on a tight track in a kind of cart and one could reach quite high speeds. We did three runs: introductory, intermediate and advanced, each on a slightly different track. Suffice to say that the more one did the journey the faster the speed, the trickier the corners and more uneven the surface.
.jpg)
I haven't photos of any of us going down this luge - for obvious reasons. But after getting to the bottom there was a Swiss style chair lift back to the top. Here's Bec and Max in front.
.jpg)
And half way up I had the presence of mind to photograph someone going down on the introductory track.
.jpg)
After the Luge, we headed to the big swing. The seat accommodated 3 people, all heavily strapped in, as shown here. And there were several other safety devices for reasons that will become clear.
.jpg)
The seat was winched up adjacent to a tower, at which point we faced the ground and the steel cords holding our seat were horizontal. At this point, Max pulled a cord which freed our seat from being attached to the tower. Guess what. Amidst screams we hurtled towards the ground at 150 kph (over 90 mph), but of course didn't hit it. I have a photo which shows me with a grotesque expression on my face that's unpublishable.
.jpg)
That was enough fun for one day.
AS
One could come down a zig-zag course, which slower and more gentle or faster in a straight line.
Here's Max jumping for joy after his first zig-zag run, Bec coming down inside her ball, exiting excitedly, and then jumping ecstatically for the camera!
Soon after the zorbing we found ourselves in a gondola car rising high above Rototua with lovely views of the town and lake.
At the top we donned headgear and headed for the Luge. This was not a snowy job but rather a downhill run on a tight track in a kind of cart and one could reach quite high speeds. We did three runs: introductory, intermediate and advanced, each on a slightly different track. Suffice to say that the more one did the journey the faster the speed, the trickier the corners and more uneven the surface.
I haven't photos of any of us going down this luge - for obvious reasons. But after getting to the bottom there was a Swiss style chair lift back to the top. Here's Bec and Max in front.
And half way up I had the presence of mind to photograph someone going down on the introductory track.
After the Luge, we headed to the big swing. The seat accommodated 3 people, all heavily strapped in, as shown here. And there were several other safety devices for reasons that will become clear.
The seat was winched up adjacent to a tower, at which point we faced the ground and the steel cords holding our seat were horizontal. At this point, Max pulled a cord which freed our seat from being attached to the tower. Guess what. Amidst screams we hurtled towards the ground at 150 kph (over 90 mph), but of course didn't hit it. I have a photo which shows me with a grotesque expression on my face that's unpublishable.
That was enough fun for one day.
AS
No comments:
Post a Comment