I started the morning off with a good breakfast. Not that I don’t mind going out for food but I’ve discovered that if you buy yourself some food, keep it in the community fridge in the kitchen, you can really cut down on meal prices. And frankly, while it’s nice to experience the food culture, I’m a big fan of the culture culture. It was also nice chatting with a trio of ladies who were from the states and doing a whirlwind tour – I think it was maybe 11 days, so it was very much go go go for them!
I hopped onto the bus at 9.30 am to get out to the site. Mistakenly I first went the way of the Agrodome complex
and its own bizarre attractions (what the heck is a ‘schweeb’ anyway?) I finally headed across the road and found it!
It was time to go zorbing! Now for the uninitiated, a zorb is this: a massive soft plastic ball with another smaller plastic ball inside it, where you, the willing adventure tourist, get to have all the fun. I plunked down about 95$NZD for three rides which I didn’t think that was all that bad. I’d been waiting years to do this… ever since it popped up years ago on Amazing Race.
You then go and get changed. If you don’t have a bathing suit, you’ll have to shell out for a spandex/lycra combo which I guess is okay, although it’s nothing compared to Hole in the Wall (which frankly isn’t that bad).
First off you then get shuttled up the hill in a mountain. To be honest I’m not sure why they don’t have stairs, guess it must depend on how busy they get. I was in the car with a mom and son from Wellington who were quite nice to chat with. I let them go first, then it was my turn!
I got to do the wet ride first. You first have to dive/slide into the ball which already has about two litres of water inside. They then zip the hole closed, and then you have to stand up, and in American Gladiators style you have to walk it a tiny little bit to get it going. Let’s have a picture essay, shall we?
Here I am at the start.
Now, making progress.
At the first turn…
And now making further good time down the hill.
All the time I was laughing my head off. I was giggling like a school girl, it was so fun! They take a picture of you inside of the zorb…
… and then your wonderful “exit”. Priceless.
Followed by a good jump to show your enthusiasm.
I was laughing so hard and anxious to do it again. This time I was “assigned” to the dry ride. It’s very different – this time you’re strapped into the zorb by way of a harness.
I’d lie to you and say that I liked this one better but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. While I’m pleased I got to enjoy it, I felt that I didn’t have tons of padding and it was like being thrown down in a WWE match. Oh and did I mention I went backwards?
So it was with great pleasure that I went for ride number three back on the wet course. I could have done the straightaway but I enjoyed the zig-zag too much the first time that I wanted to go back to that one.
I am one who really enjoys a good laugh and I think it’s a great way to health but I don’t think I had laughed this in a short period time in probably forever. The family from Wellington and I then went and picked up our pictures (some of which you’ve seen here) and then parted ways. On the way out I also picked up a tshirt (half price!) and ran into a family from Calgary and one solo backpacker from Waterloo.
To be honest, not that zorbing was that exhausting, but I have come to a conclusion that if I don’t do everything every day it’s not the end of the world. And as such, I headed back early afternoon to the flashpackers to have a well deserved nap and catch up with some blog entries.
I was tempted to go along with the Nova Scotia crew to an event in the evening but I was still quite wiped. I’m trying to pace myself a little better than I did in Europe (22 cities in 47 days I think was the count, or thereabouts) so I took in a nice evening with Susie Dent’s book What makes the crocodile cry? and a wee bit of Olympic coverage where I can get it.
Cheers,
Vick.
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