Be the ball in New Zealand
'WACKY, DIFFERENT' | Kiwi activity bubbles over with adventure in enormous sphere
ROTORUA, New Zealand -- Zorbing. Even the word is funny.
Zorbing has a way of making people smile, whether you're a bystander or literally in the middle of the action.
It's a pretty simple concept: Squeeze into the hollow center of a huge, translucent sphere -- the Zorb -- and roll down a hill, bouncing up, down and all around.
This quintessential Kiwi activity was invented in 1995 in Rotorua, one of the most popular tourist areas in New Zealand. Located a bit inland from the North Island's Bay of Plenty, the volcanic region is bubbling with lava pools, boiling mud pots, geysers, steam vents and hot springs. Beautiful lakes and rivers dot the landscape. A large, indigenous Maori population still thrives here, and so do adrenaline-pumping pastimes like bungee jumping, zip lining, jet boating whitewater rafting and Zorbing.
I arrived at the Zorb Rotorua site on a crisp, clear morning to find a nearly 1,500-foot-long hill, the grass tilted down at a sharp 15-degree angle. A few plastic Zorbs waited ominously at the top of the hill.
Kari Bodnarchuk of Massachusetts was ready to give it a whirl.
"I had heard about this and it looked wacky and different," she said. "It piqued my interest."
Zorb Rotorua runs as many as 60 "Zorbonauts" a day. Zorbonauts can choose from two options: a dry Zorb, where you're strapped inside the globe, or a wet one, where they add a bit of water and you slosh around inside. Every once in a while, someone decides to ride naked. For the kids, there's a small Zorb called the Zilinder, which sends children rolling around on flat ground.
Bodnarchuk opted for the wet ride because she "wanted the freedom to slip and slide."
Operations manager Keith Kolver told me Zorb Rotorua has given rides to people as young as 7 and and as old as 78.
"We'll give anybody a ride who's keen for a roll," Kolver said in typical Kiwi fashion.
I watched as a trepidatious Bodnarchuk made her Zorb entry -- not a pretty nor elegant undertaking. She had to dive through the small opening and, once inside, looked like an insect trapped in a bubble. The Zorb techs tossed in a few buckets of water to get a good sloshing going. With a soaking wet Bodnarchuk inside, the orb was sealed with a massive rubber cork.
I raced down the grassy slope, trying to get a good shot of the clear Zorb against the green grass and blue sky.
Suddenly the bubble appeared on the lip of the ledge and began tumbling downhill. Inside, I could see a body, then legs, then an upright body, then just legs again. The few spectators screamed at the spectacle of a human being churning end over end like a hamster wheel gone awry. It was both bizarre and hilarious.
To up the ante, a couple of Zorb techs walked onto the course and laid down in the path of the oncoming ball. The big bubble benignly rolled right over them. The Zorb kept its slow and steady pace until coming to a gentle stop once the hill flattened out at the bottom.
The small crowd cheered. I rushed over to see how the Zorbonaut had survived her rookie run.
Bodnarchuk spilled out of the sphere wearing a huge grin.
"I saw colors whizzing by, the water sloshing around and heard myself laughing," Bodnarchuk said. She toweled off and added, "The most intimidating part was taking the first step off the hill."
Kolver said people who take the wet trip, or Hydro Zorb, often equate it to being inside a washing machine -- an accurate analogy, Bodnarchuk said.
Wet or dry, Zorbing is as quirky and exciting as the country it comes from.
Bob Ecker is a Napa, Calif.-based free-lance writer.