I came, I saw, I ZORBED!

And I didn't just zorb, I did the zig-zag hydro zorb! Yee-haw! Thank you Kevin for making me promise to go zorbing. Now, since you're traveling NZ vicariously through me, I will tell you exactly what happened.

We hopped off the tour bus a little early to squeeze zorbing in (I talked two other gals into trying it, and one other came to watch). The zorb site looks really neat - it's this huge hill with giant clear spheres at the top. When we went in to sign up, there were several zorbs to choose from - the dry zorb (you're harnessed in) or the wet (hydro) zorb (they throw water into the zorb with you and you're unharnessed, so you slide around - kind of a cross between a waterslide and a roller coaster). Also, you get to choose between the straightaway or the zig-zag. The gal working talked me into the hydro zig-zag, which was a good choice since it was hot today! The zorbs are a bit like greenhouses being clear, so it's quite hot inside.

If you hydro zorb, you can rent clothes and a towel, which we did as none of us were up for a 3 hour bus ride home in wet clothes. So, we were all in "team zorbonaut" clothing (mine was bright yellow, not exactly my color, hee-hee) - I'll post a picture. You don't wear anything under your zorbonaut outfit (unless you want to put your dry pants over your wet underwear).

Next, we took a 4-wheel jeep ride to the top of the hill, and a staff member explained how to get into the zorb. I WENT FIRST, believe it or not! So, I dove, like Superman, or rather Wonder Woman, head first into the tiny hole (with a helpful shove from the staff member) and landed with a splash in the water where I sat waiting for take-off.

Then I found out that staff don't push you to get started, you run like a hamster inside a wheel. This is after they zip your little portal closed. It doesn't take much time "on the wheel" to really get going. Then it's an absolute riot! I was laughing hysterically the whole way down. I splished, splashed, slid from one side to another, went upside down, and did the loop-de-loop before my zorb came to a stop. I had a hard time standing up when I got out of the zorb (feet first this time - no easy task in wet shorts sans knickers!) Remember spinning around outside with your arms out while looking up into the sky? Zorbing is kind of like this, only more extreme. Anyway, that's the sort of dizzy I felt when I climbed out of the zorb.

You can check out pictures at their website: Zorb NZ Just imagine me, Teej, aka Safety Girl, in these photos :-)

Love from NZ