Day 37 - Saturday 10 February 2024

Up at 6:30, and into the complementary breakfast at 07:00. Back to the room, and time for a chat with Mum before getting what I needed for today together and leaving the hotel.

The forecast for today was thunderstorms all day when I went to bed last night; now it's saying overcast until 11:00 or so before heavy rain. Today is the day that I'm doing the Rotorua Skyline and Luge, so I thought that I'd make sure to start early. The gondola opened at 09:00, so I was waiting in the car park 10 minutes before that.

Up on the gondola (it felt so wrong getting in one of those with no skis) and straight to the Luge start point. I dug for a helmet that had a Gopro mounting on; all of the ones I found had a mounting that I hadn't bought with me today, so I was unable to get any first person footage. My rucksack containing my Gopro went into a locker while I had fun on the five tracks; one for each run I'd bought.

The luge itself is like a go-cart on four wheels with a bike-like handlebar to steer and brake; forward for no brakes, and pull it back to slow yourself down. A really intuitive setup.

After a bit of instruction, I started by taking the left track, called the Tiki Tour. All of the tracks ended at the same point, but this was the longest, meaning it was the least steep and a good one to begin on. It took me down through the redwood forest while I learned what the limits of the luge were; there were a couple of times I was on two wheels as I cornered a bit too fast. At the bottom, I put the luge onto a conveyer belt, and took a chair lift back to the top.

The second run was down a track called Twister; a track that incorporated lots of corkscrew turns where you passed underneath the track you'd just been on. There were several of these corkscrews, and I learned that it was important not to come into these too fast .... more two wheel moments, but I was getting the hang of how fast I could get these carts to go.

Third run, and this time down Ultra; about two thirds of the way down Twister, then take a right path, followed by another right. By now it felt like I was flying down the hill as one corner was upon me as soon as I'd passed the previous one. This really was a lot of fun.

Just two runs left, so I went for the fastest track and Gravity; a right turn right at the top, and a fantastic curvy track; first one way and then the other aiming to hit the apex just right so that the speed could build up, then suddenly a hairpin so the brakes slammed on ...... when I was on my way up on the chairlift I saw someone not slow down enough, and end up on the grass much to the amusement of his friends. Gravity is the track you'll see viewed from the top in this weeks vlog.

The final run was Legend; again down the top two thirds of Twister, then the right path followed by the left option; it finished at the bottom underneath the chair lift, and again I felt like I was flying as I came through a tunnel to the 'end of track' sign and had to slam the anchors on.

I'd beaten the expected rain, so returned to the top and had a coffee in the restaurant before a bit of exploration and time to take some videos. The luge riders seem to be moving so slowly from my vantage point up top, so perhaps the feeling of speed comes from the fact that you're pretty much sitting on the ground as you go down the track.

Back down to the car in the Gondola, and back to the hotel. I headed straight out to have a bit of an explore of Rotorua. As a town, it doesn't impress me much; it seemed pretty dead, but I guess that's partly down to the fact that it's a Saturday. So I had a bit of a wander down by the lake and was tempted into an Irish bar for a very nice Guinness before returning to the hotel to get the vlog finished .... Saturday had become publishing day after all, and this weeks video can be found here. (again, click the blue 'here' and it'll open in a new window)

The promised rain arrived at 15:15, and is currently thundering against my roof with a sound not dissimilar to the luge thundering down the track, so I've timed everything well today and haven't needed my rain gear. The only thing left for today is to repack for departure tomorrow now that I have loads of clean stuff, and to consider what to do tomorrow morning ....... it's supposed to be clear and sunny, and I now have the correct Gopro mount, and the Luge wasn't really that expensive for the amount of fun I had, and I have no first person footage currently ..... so perhaps a return visit tomorrow morning on my way out of Rotorua isn't such a bad idea? Solely to document it on video of course so that I have a complete record.