After spending the majority of the day exploring the Rotorua Redwoods, Dad and I decided to go check out SkyLine Rotorua. We only had a few hours before we had to be ready for our dinner plans, and a gondola ride up a mountain to check out the view seemed like an okay way to spend the afternoon.

Once we got there, we knew we were in for some fun… there were options! We ended up spending a bit of coin and doing a bit of frat boy YOLO high fiving. For around $100NZD we got the gondola ride up, 3 luge rides and a go on the SkySwing. After missing out on the bungy swing in Taupo, Dad was super keen. And since I’m on a 2018 quest to #bebrave (see here and here) I had to belly up and act super excited about it.

PRO TIP: If you prepay for your SkyLine experiences online, you get it for cheaper. Looking back now I can see I was significantly ripped off! Haha. I want my 2 extra luge rides man!

SkyLine Gondola

Have you been in a gondola before? Well it was exactly like that. You could see Rotorua and the surrounding area if you looked down the mountain. You could see a sweet bmx/mountain bike track if you looks directly down. You could see the SkySwing if you looked up the mountain (OMG NO STOP LOOKING AT THAT I NEED TO NERVOUS WEE).

SkySwing

After a nervous wee stop, we walked over to the SkySwing. Hooray, there was no wait. We were strapped in straight away and up we went.

PRO TIP: the person on the left has to pull the release cord, so if you’re frozen with fear like me, sit on the right.

Unlike most places, you could take your own GoPro up! They’ll also film you with their own camera, and sell it to you for a ridiculous price if you don’t have your own (side note I bought that too, it was just too hilarious not to). Although I took my own, here is the completely embarrassing and unflattering footage that they took. Please be aware that I swear like a pirate in this video, so I’ll go ahead and rate it M.

If you’re not into swearing, either keep the sound off or look at this picture of me being glad that it’s over.

Luge

Now I’ve done lots of luging (also known as bobsledding) at Jamberoo Action Park (where you control the action), so I thought it a bit of a joke that I had to go on the “scenic” run before I could go on the intermediate or advanced run. Dad and I had 3 luge runs each, so we just decided to do each run once.

The scenic was boring, and concrete tracks suck compared to steel tracks. So much teeth rattling.

The intermediate was ok, tested the skill level a bit more. Had to actually lean into corners.

THE ADVANCED WAS HECTIC AND I ACTUALLY GOT AIR WHICH IS NOT FUN WITH NO SUSPENSION. Seriously there should be warning signs.

PRO TIP: There are warning signs. Don’t ignore them like I did. You are not a pro race car driver. This is not a pro race car. You need your tailbone to not be bruised. Let me learn you that lesson.

All in all, it was a pretty freaking good afternoon. We totally considered signing up for more activities like zip lining, but we had run out of time. We were off to a Maori Village for dinner!

Question time!! Are you an adrenaline junkie? Which of these activities would you do?