Another one of the ‘tamer’ activities we chose to do in Rotorua was shweebing.  This was another activity we found not involving throwing yourself off a bridge attached by a rope.  This is offered by Agroventures, an adventure park just outside Rotorua. This crazy idea came from some eccentric who envisioned this as the future mode of transport for cities. We’re not sure about that, but it was definitely thrilling and fun.

The ride consists of  two suspended tracks side by side, with transparent plastic pods hanging from them.  Inside the pods are recumbent bikes. The pod is opened, you climb in, and race the person beside you.  The track isn’t that long, but has a couple of easy ups and downs, like a  roller coaster

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Ian was able to ride with our infant, which was a welcome surprise, and quite fun.  Ian had our baby strapped to his front in the Ergo Baby carrier, and she was definitely safe, although somewhat confused by the whole thing. We raced around the track a couple of times, and then the operators flag you to let you know to slow down and stop.  A screen shows the results of the race, and they give you a printed scorecard to let you know how you did compared to other recent riders in the same “class” – Men, Women, children, or in Ian’s case, “BOB” (baby on board!)   The ride was well run, organized, and safe.  And of course, at the end, they sell you a slick video (which you can see above) filmed from inside the pods. They emailed us a link to the video which we downloaded  We just couldn’t say no – you can see the video above!

 

It was definitely a highlight of our trip to Rotorua.