Day 1 and 2 back in New Zealand

We arrived back in Auckland early in the morning and tired. We did nothing on the first day back other than pick up our rental car in the city and plan the rest of our trip. We didn't even take any pictures that day. The day after our re-arrival we headed south to Rotorua. Here is a picture taken at the top of the Skyline Skyride looking down on Lake Rotorua and the luge track. In the foreground is the chairlift used to return lugers (and luges) back to top of the hill. This isn't like the street luge you see on TV, this is a three wheeled cart with handlebars and brakes. Jocelyn, Mary, Matthew and I did it. Matthew really liked it and wanted to go faster. In classic New Zealand way Matthew met all the requirements to go by himself except the parental consent. He and I rode down together.

This gives you a good idea what the luge and track are like. Notice how there aren't any barriers on the side of the track unless you count the grass.

After our first round of luging we went to check out the SkySwing. This is an amusement ride like you might see at Playland. It's like a swing on steroids. The "seat" is suspended between the two towers and is pulled back by a wire connected to a third tower behind them.

Matthew really wanted to go on it and, again, he easily met all of the requirements to ride - so we did. The swing "seat" was pulled back and up 34m at which point I had to pull a rope to release us. They have positioned the swing so that it swings down and out over the edge of the hill at about 140km/h. Quite a rush.