How do I begin? Zorbing was fantastic!!!!! So for those of you who don't know what it is, Zorbing involves climbing into a great big plastic sphere and rolling down a hill. You can do it harnessed in or you can do what they call Hydro Zorbing (also known as the wash cycle) where you just climb in and they throw a little bit of water in with you and you slosh your way down the hill like that! You also have the choice of going straight down the hill or taking a zig zag course. I of course did the Hydro Zorb on the zig zag track for the maximum experience.
I can not describe to you how much fun this is! You can't see out of the ball at all because it is sort of an opaque plastic. And the track itself is really just a trench between two dirt mounds. So it feels a little like you might be lost forever rolling around the world in a giant bubble. There is something so comforting and protective about a giant plastic bubble which makes you not really care. And then you are sloshing all over the inside of this huge sphere as you tumble your way down the hill. I would have done it over and over and over again if I had had the time and the money (NZ$45 a ride). Actually, I am trying to figure out where to get the start up capital to start a Zorbing operation in Phoenix. I think it would go over huge! Meanwhile, I got great photos to show off as they take several for you and burn them to a disk.
We did some more beautiful hiking at the foot of a couple snow covered volcanoes and saw some amazing water falls. They really don't seem to have a shortage of water here and it is all of it breathtaking. They also have a wide range of wildlife. So far on this trip, in addition to the sheep and cows and horses we expected to see, we have seen ponys, deer, llamas, ostriches, emus, peacocks, black swans, pukekos (a native bird), kiwis, an assortment of odd looking chickens and ducks, rabbits, a possum, and of course cats and dogs galore. I believe I missed some on that list but I will think of them later.
We made our way to Whanganui last night through a rather dodgy bit of road that had several wash outs and one lane bridges and ridiculous question mark shaped curves. There was actually a sign that had a picture that looked like a snake (they are very pictoraly accurate on their signs) and a tag underneath that said next 61k (kilometers). To top it all off it was dark and rainy! And for those of you who know me and what an excellent passenger I am especially on curvy mountainous roads, let me add that Susan was driving. I was really glad to stop for the night at a little hostel here housed in a Victorian era home.
Today we are headed back down to Wellington as it is already Friday here and our trip will be ending far too shortly. We are going to travel via a town called Palmerston North where the largest wind farm in the Southern hemisphere exists and where they say, on a good day, you can see both coasts and the South Island all at the same time. Here is hoping for a clear day!
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