Go Luging Down A Mountain

Rotorua has a bad reputation, mainly for the city-wide awful stench caused by the sulfur.  Do you know what sulfur smells like?  If you don't, find some rotton eggs and surround yourself in it.  That's what Rotorua smells like.

But not all of Rotorua stinks!   At the top of Mount Ngongotaha is Skyline Rotorua, and you don't smell an ounce of sulfur up there.

After taking a gondola to the top I saw the best views of Rotorua.  Now it's time to luge!

 Luging was the closest I would ever get to feel like a member of Cool Runnings. 

A luge is part go-kart and part toboggan.  The mechanics of the plastic sled were quite simple, pull the handle bar back to brake, and pull forward to accelerate.

At Skyline Rotorua there were three tracks to choose from, a scenic (beginners) route, an intermediate route, and an advanced route.

To get a hang of luging I did the scenic route twice, and then did the intermediate route.   There was only one point that I feared for my life.  I was accelerating fairly quickly and I went into a turn a little too tight and almost fell off the luge and into the side of the track.  Other than that little mishap, I had a great time!

After reaching the bottom of the mountain, we then hopped onto a chairlift to get back to the top.   Skyline Rotorua had hidden cameras at points during the luge ride and chairlift.  The photos were taken without warning.  The above photo of my friend Jen in the chairlift makes me laugh everytime.  We called it the "Pondering Life" shot.

Skyline Rotorua also has restaurants, a winery and tasting room in case luging is not for you.

But luging is fun for any age, and with three different tracks, there is a track that fits almost any adventure level. 

Date Accomplished: March 8th, 2009

Take A Gondola Ride In Venice

A signature sight in Venice are the endless stream of gondolas floating through the canals.  More often than not those gondolas are filled with tourists like myself.  Before our gondola ride we headed to a shop to get a few bottles of wines and cups for our ride. 

I have a confession to make, before our ride we did a bit too much drinking (a downfall when wine is cheaper than water), and we were starting to feel and look like Peter.....

While I'm in the mood of confessing, I'd also like to confess that I rarely floss, and I was actually terrified that our gondola might topple over.  I  had no plans of imitating Madonna by dancing and jumping around in the gondola.

It was an Italian-style booze cruise.

Our gondolier was a friendly chap that had a liking for my friend Jen.  He even let her drive our gondola, but personally I think he just wanted an excuse to feel her up. 

Wine was spilled, a bottle of champagne was cracked open, and we serenaded (or rather painfully annoyed) the people of Venice with our version of "That's Amore."

"So how drunk are you on a scale of 0 to Peter?" 

Pre-Gondola Ride: 6

Post-Gondola Ride:  Peter

Date Accomplished:  September 23rd, 2007