Thanksgiving in Rotorua - plus the day of Zorb

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We have a friend living here in Antigua who is from New Zealand, and when we talked with her before departing for NZ she said that we simply must try out the Zorb, a notable activity in Rotorua. What is Zorb? Hold on to your trousers...I"ll get there real soon.

We headed out towards Zorb-land, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Rotorua by car. En route we stopped by the Agrodome, which is a working sheep and cattle farm specializing in showing tourists what a working sheep and cattle farm looks like. We walked from the parking lot to the ticketing area, noticed the sky-high price of entry, observed a busload of Japanese tourists (who paid said high prices) getting a sheep sheering demonstration in Japanese, and promptly left. On the way back out to the parking lot we got the best (and free!) demonstration of sheep dogs chasing some escaped sheep on their way to the actual demonstration.

After leaving the Agrodome, we noticed a little glass blowing studio, and decided to stop in and take a peek, as we all enjoy a good glass-blowing. Our timing was perfect, as a laid-back kid from San Diego was blowing a vase in front of the only other person in the studio, a cute college student he was clearly trying to impress.

Grace is one of those kids who LOVES to see art supplies and color coming together. Earlier in the trip she was mesmerized at a museum video showing Dale Chihuly's glass studio in action. We had to drag her away from that video after she saw the loop 2 times. So she promptly took her spot on a bar stool and for the next hour we, too, became mesmerized by the glass-blowing.

Needless to say, I walked away with a neato glass item. A beautiful unfurling fern, the symbol of New Zealand.

Okay, now to the Zorb. It turns out that Zorb is this massive plastic ball into which you place a tourist, and push down a hill. There are two types of Zorb: original (dry) Zorb and the new and improved wet Zorb. Dry Zorb involves strapping your hands, feet , waist and neck in the ball, so that you helplessly bounce and roll down the hill like an encased prisoner, going ass over tea kettle (as they say). Wet Zorb places water inside the Zorb, involves no straps, and as the ball rolls down the hill, the slidey effect of the water allows you to remain heads-up for the ride.

So, clearly, you really have to be an idiot to want to do Zorb. As Steve and I were summoning up the courage to do the dry Zorb, the 20-something dude behind the counter told us we'd better have really good neck strength because a lot of their customers really hurt their necks on the dry Zorb. Okay! Thanks, dude, for giving us a great reason not to go on your ridiculous ride! The kids, however, really wanted to do the wet Zorb, and even though we though it was pretty silly, it was indeed a unique thrill, so up the hill the kids went, with Steve and I at the bottom cheering them on. See the attached videos of Grace going down the hill straight, and Lucas going down the hill the curvy way. And that, my friends, is Zorb. A lot of innovative and wonderful things come from New Zealand (have I by any chance mentioned Icebreaker?), and this, perhaps, is one of the more wacky ones.

When we got back we had just enough time to get ourselves by the pool when into the motel driveway come... the HAndersons! They had contacted us earllier, saying they had decided to tour the North Island, and might we want to re-connect and continue our fun together? Of course we would, so were thrilled that they were able to make it up to Rotorua in time for Thanksgiving. Dave got us all organized for our own dinner cooked on the motel barbeque, so our traditional American Thanksgiving dinner consisted of pork chops and hot dogs. When you are with friends and family, what more could you want?

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Photos

The entrance to the Agrodome
Featuring the mighty ram, proud and of cement.
(We got an accidently free demonstration of sheepherding on our way back to the parking lot.)

Grace takes a seat for the glassblowing show
We spent the next hour watching a beautiful vase be made

Thanksgiving with the HAndersons
Sitting around the Traditional Picnic Table at the Traditionial Motor Hotel eating Traditional Hot Dogs.

Comments

[Kristin Bryant]

Today show
I recently saw someone riding in one of these on the Today show (Meredith?) so you guys are really hip! Just thought you'd want to know!