Adrenalin Heaven

New Zealand is the motherland of adventure sports. For this distinction, The Rough Guide to New Zealand credits New Zealand’s “extraordinary range of climatic conditions and geographical phenomena” in combination with the “innovative Kiwi approach to adventure activities.” In fact, two Kiwi speed skiers pioneered commercial bungee jumping, and the first commercial operation was set up just outside of Queenstown (South Island) on the Kawerau Suspension Bridge—still one of the most popular jumps in the country.

When Beth, Jalyane, and I took our excursion from Hamilton to Rotorua—one of New Zealand’s bastions for adventure sports-–Jalayne polled us on what sorts of things we all might like to do . . . realistically-speaking all the way to in-our-wildest-dreams-speaking. And actually, finances and moral support (as in someone else to do it with us) established themselves as the major criteria separating our realistic desires from those of our dreams. I confessed that I have long harbored a hankering to bungee jump. Jalayne wanted to sky dive. And Beth offered diplomatic smiles and murmurings without ever committing to anything! In the end, while at Rotorua, Jalayne “Zorbed” and we all “Luged.”

When Beth and I met up with Jalayne in New Zealand, she was just finishing a stint of student teaching at Fraser High School in Hamilton. She already knew a Zorb experience topped her to-do list while in Rotorua. For a short while Jalayne’s enthusiasm for a Zorbing opportunity had both Beth and me figuring we would like to Zorb also . . . that is, until we became first-hand witnesses of the Zorbing process.

Basically, while within the interior of a cushioned ball--along with some water to enable sliding and sloshing--one rolls down this hill!

I just don’t do round and round stuff anymore; dizziness pushes my nausea button. Beth and I revised our own to-do lists and, instead,offered our services as photographers for Jalayne’s Zorbing adventure.

That's Jalayne inside the ball at the far right.

Jalayne "Zorbing" down the hillside.

At the bottom, the guys ready and waiting to assist Jalayne when she emerges.

Before our trip to Rotorua, we consulted with Jalayne’s host family to help us prioritize the multitude of adventure sport possibilities in Rotorua when only two or three would be able to fit in our time frame. The Luge polled at the number one position, and I suspect that all three of us would now concur with said rating; we had an absolute blast “luging” down that mountainside. The tickets we purchased included three trips up the lift and three trips down a luge path. The rules required everyone to take the “Scenic Route”—easiest, not as steep or as curvy—for the first run. Beth stayed with the Scenic Route for all of her trips, but Jalayne—who I discovered has a penchant for speed just like her auntie—and I moved to the intermediate path for our second ride and to the advanced for our final ride. While descending the mountain on the gondola after our adventure, Jalayne and I both confessed that WHEN we return to Rotorua and the Luge, we will do the obligatory first run on the Scenic Route and then move right to the advanced path! (I shared tales of some of my New Zealand adventures with a Kiwi friend from church, one born and bred in the Hamilton environs, and when I told her luge stories, she stated most matter of factly, “Oh, people die on the luge all the time.” . . . Okay, from the lift I did see a crash on the advanced run—somebody missed a curve—but the victim was proceeding down the mountain on foot . . . with only a slightly perceptible limp!)

Rotorua, as seen from the Gondola.

Jalayne and I--ready for our second run.

Riding the lift, accompanied by two luges below the chair.

Looking down from the lift at two of the paths.

Beth ready to take the "Scenic Route" one more time.

Jalayne at the beginning of the advanced path.

Me at the bottom of the advanced path.

As part of our “Cape Reinga via Ninety-Mile Beach Tour,” Beth and I had the chance to go sand boarding on these huge dunes at the north end of Ninety-Mile Beach. I only had time to squeeze in two runs down because I volunteered to return to the bus for my camera in order to photograph Beth’s second run down. Due to the immense amounts of sand and the likelihood of close body contact with it all, we left our cameras safe on the bus. It was certainly a good call on my part because I flipped on my second run down: Having learned how to tweak for greater speed on my first run, I had reached exhilarating momentum that second time but found myself heading for some vegetation where the dunes met the riverbed; while attempting a slight weight shift to initiate a wee bit of a curve, I lost my center of balance and flipped! No “ow-ies” but my body collected sand in every fold, wrinkle, crevice and orifice!

Trudging up the dune--an exhausting process.

Beth at the top of the dune before "flight."

More conservative—or shall I say prudent—when it comes to speed, Beth still looks to be flying down that slope.

Beth ready to ford the river to come back to the bus.


On our last full day in New Zealand, Jalayne decided that she would bungee jump with me if we could locate a site. Because we would all fly out the next morning, we were headed to Auckland. Jalayne and I both thought perhaps the Skytower in Auckland would offer a bungee jump opportunity, but, no, it is just a “skyjump”—like a free fall. Neither of us chose to spend $80 on an adventure that didn’t meet the criteria. Instead, we took photos of someone else taking the leap.

So, I still haven’t bungee jumped!