Rolling around in Rotorua

By DENISE MCNABB

It was a spur of the moment decision, and after putting on our bright orange hire "jammies" I was already having misgivings.

A hardcase chap had spotted our type a mile off. All talk, no action.

"Will we get very wet?" I ask.

"Lady, you'll get soaked," he roars as he shoe-horns us into his four-wheel drive.

The road zig-zags to the top of a hill in a paddock.

Two Chinese girls are waiting their turn, giggling profusely beside the big plastic ball, named a zorb by its New Zealand inventors.

They dive through a hole in its side and without warning a bucket of water is heaved after them and the hole sealed. The bucket man pushes and the ball hurtles down the hill. Their giggles turn to shrieks.

We are next. Three sensible adults packaged tall (the male) and short (two females). We dive (the hole is just 600mm) and sprawl inside the inflated PVC ball, its inner and outer chambers separated by packed, blown air in a 700mm wide cavity. Mercifully, the water is warm.

The cad at the top urges "Mr Tall" to stand so the ball will bounce more vigorously. Then he pushes.

On reflex my eyes close tightly before opening halfway down. We slosh and slide and bounce off and over each other for almost 300m.

We learn later that no one can get motion sickness because the rotation is no more than once every 10m.

Sixteen rotations and 22 seconds later the zorb stops. Our legs and arms have become latticed limbs and we are laughing so much that it takes a long time to raise enough energy to pull ourselves out.

Do it again? You bet. It is one of the craziest experiences I've ever had.

Where: Agrodome Adventure Park, Western Rd, Ngongotaha, on the outskirts of Rotorua

What is it: An 80kg PVC waterproof ball invented by two New Zealanders, Dwane van der Sluis and Andrew Akers.

What it costs: $40 for one person hydro zorbing and $25 for subsequent rolls.

Two people in the ball and the price drops to $30 each; three people, $25 each.

Dry zorbing (where you are harnessed into the sides of the ball by straps) costs $40.

Both types cost $65.

Clothing and towel hire $2.

Hydro-zorbing accounts for 80 per cent of all rolls.