New Zealand - abZORBed

I can't stop saying out loud - New Zealand is so beautiful! It reminds me of a cross between Hawaii and Colorado - it's completely lush with both pine and palm trees all mixed together...and the most beautiful sunsets! (this pic below is from the porch of a home of a nice Kiwi family I met who invited me over for a lamb and veggies dinner)

Yesterday was activity-filled! In the morning I went white water rafting, what a rush! I was the only American which quickly earned me the name "Miss America" and some special treatment while rafting from our guide Pete. And by special treatment I mean Pete throwing me over the side of our raft when I wasn't expecting it (he had thrown no one else out) and off I went down the river hoping not to crash into one of the many large protruding rocks. One of the 'safety kayakers' came over to me once I finally stopped, only to then be lifted by Peter onto the Kayak. Not in, on. He told me to "straddle tight" and off we went. The kayak quickly flipped and I found myself going down falls upsidedown underneath a kayak, and was quickly separated from it. I couldn't stop spinning enough to figure out which way was up - it was a bit scary! (the guides didn't heed my accident-prone warning!) Finally I got back in the raft, gave the guide a good punch and told him that scared the &$*# out of me! He said if it's not scary, it's not fun! And I agreed, because it was a blast! We also went down the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world - a 21 foot drop. But compared to the uncontrolled feeling of careening down the rapids with my survival resting solely in my life jacket, the waterfall was a breeze! The 'life' jacket definitely earns its name! (that's me in the raft going off the waterfall)

I also Zorbed. Remember those plastic balls you'd put your hamster in and he'd roll around your floor? Same concept, only filled with air, and the part I was in also was filled with water - and you get pushed off an edge and roll down a curvy path down a hill. I was in the Zorb sloshing around, it was nuts! It's wet so you have no grip or control, it was a 40 second rush! I suddenly feel guilty about unnecessary hamster torture I committed as a child! (this pic is a zorb going down the same track I went down)

To top off the day I did the luge track - I finally conquered my luge fear I've had since my nasty spill in Germany in 2000.

New Zealand prides itself on being the adrenaline junkie capitol of the world, and for good reason!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Salisbury Rd,Rotorua,New Zealand